B 


. 


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«! 
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A 


THE 


INFLUENCE 


OF  THE 


BLUE  EAT  OF  THE  SUNLIGHT 


AND   OF  THE 


BLUE  COLOUR  OF  THE  SKY, 

IN  DEVELOPING  ANIMAL  AND  VEGETABLE  LIFE; 

IN    ARRESTING    DISEASE,    AND    IN    RESTORING     HEALTH    IN    ACUTE    AND 
CHRONIC  DISORDERS  TO  HUMAN  AND  DOMESTIC  ANIMALS, 

A3  ILLTJSTKATED  BT  TUB  EXPERIMENTS  OP 

GEN.  A.  J.  PLEASONTON,  AND  OTHERS, 
Between  the  years  1861  and  1876. 


Airessefl  to  lie  PiMelpMa  Society  for  Promoting  Agriculture, 


"Error  may  be  tolerated,  when  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  itS'—Tttomas  Jefferson, 
u  Ifthii  tluory  be  true,  it  upsets  all  other  theories."— Richmond  Whig. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

CLAXTON.  REMSEN  A  HAFFELFINGER.   PUBLISHERS. 


F.ntercd  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1876, 

Cv  GEN.  AUGUSTUS  J.  PLEASONTON, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


PREFACE. 


HAVING  "been  ranch  interested  In  the  phenomena  of  the  physics  of  the  earth, 
the  author,  in  offering  to  his  readers  a  second  edition  of  his  work,  "On  the 
Influence  of  the  Blue  Color  of  the  Sky  in  Developing  Animal  and  Vegetable 
Life,"  may  be  indulged  in  his  introduction  into  this  preface  of  some  views  that 
his  observations  have  led  him  to  entertain  relative  to  the  variations  of  tempera- 
ture, and  changes  of  our  seasons,  which  are  in  harmony  with  the  subjects  treated 
by  him  in  this  work. 

The  first  edition  of  the  following  memoir  was  printed  for  distribution 
among  scientific  and  literary  institutions,  and  among  persons  of  culture,  for  the 
purpose  of  attracting  the  attention  of  those  for  whom  it  was  intended,  to  the 
subjects  of  which  it  treats.  It  was  hoped  that  its  publication  would  invite 
investigation  into  the  nature,  composition,  and  influences  of  those  great  forces 
which,  in  the  poverty  of  our  language,  we  call  imponderables,  that  is  to  say,  not 
to  be  weighed  in  the  balance,  and  consequently  never  to  be  found  wanting. 
This  expectation  is  likely  to  be  realized,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  general 
interest  that  appears  to  be  taken  in  the  memoir,  which  has  been  manifested  in 
the  numerous  applications  that  have  been  made  to  the  author,  from  various 
parts  of  our  country,  for  copies  of  it.  The  edition  has  now  been  distributed, 
yet  so  many  persons  who  have  applied  for  copies  of  the  memoir  are  still  without 
it,  that  it  has  been  deemed  advisable  to  issue  another  edition. 

If,  by  a  course  of  study,  and  observation  of  the  great  forces  of  nature,  as 
they  are  exhibited,  not  in  the  laboratory,  upon  the  minutest  scale,  but  in  those 
grand  operations  by  which  physical  changes  are  at  every  moment  developed 
before  our  eyes,  we  can  succeed  in  penetrating  the  mysteries  of  their  origin, 
of  their  evolution,  of  their  application,  and  of  their  reciprocal  conversions  into 
each  other,  we  shall  become  indeed  wise  in  our  generation,  and  mankind  in  the 
future  will  be  able  to  rejoice  in  a  development  never  yet  reached  in  any  pre- 
ceding age. 


By  way  of  Illustration  of  this  idea,  we  may  suggest  that  this  planet  it 
surrounded,  at  variable  altitudes  above  its  surface,  by  a  canopy  of  cold,  increas- 
ing in  intensity  with  its  distance  above  the  earth.  Now,  we  may  ask,  what 
produces  the  changes  of  our  seasons?  We  answer,  simply  the  descent  or  ascent 
of  columns  of  this  canopy  of  cold  I 

It  has  been  observed,  for  any  years,  that  the  first  frost  of  the  autumn 
appears  in  Texas  or  Louisiana,  or  some  other  of  the  Gulf  States,  while  at  tho 
•amo  time  no  frost  is  observable  In  other  localities  situated  much  farther  to  tho 
north— tho  commonly  supposed  place  of  departure  of  our  winters.  This  frost, 
therefore,  must  come  from  tho  descent  of  tho  cold  of  the  higher  atmosphere 
immediately  over  tho  locality  where  It  prevails.  Following  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  and  those  of  Its  tributaries,  frost  appears  successively  in  various 
places  along  those  routes,  till  it  reaches  the  vallies  of  tho  Northern  Lakes, 
running  along  which  It  Is  felt  In  Northern  New  York  and  the  New  England 
States,  and  subsequently  In  the  Middle  and  Southern  Atlantic  States.  It  does 
not  reach  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia  until  some  fifteen  or  twenty  days  after 
it  has  shown  Itself  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Now  would  It  not  seem  that  tho 
Influences  producing  this  frost  are  telluric,  and  not  exclusively  solar,  as  hitherto 
they  have  been  supposed  to  be* 

We  know  that  in  the  ocean  there  are  columns  of  fresh  water  which  differ  in 
temperature  from  the  surrounding  se^  "water,  and  with  which  they  do  not 
mingle  for  a  long  time.  So  is  it  for  a  hundred  or  more  miles  at  sea,  distant  from 
the  mouths  of  the  great  rivers  Amazon,  Orinoco,  Mississippi,  etc.,  whose  fresh 
waters  do  not  mix  with  the  salt  waters  surrounding  them,  owing  to  tho  difference 
of  their  densities.  In  like  manner  the  cold  air  of  the  upper  atmosphere  descends 
In  columns  of  various  extent  over  particular  localities,  to  vary  the  temperature 
and  change  tho  seasons,  on  tho  surface  of  our  earth,  without  mixing  with  tho 
wanner  and  more  expanded  air  beneath,  which  it  displaces. 

Tho  spring  and  summer  Reasons  are  produced  by  Increased  radiations  from 
the  interior  heat  of  the  earth,  forcing  upwards  tho  dense  cold  of  winter,  whose 
particles  are  so  close  together  as  to  prevent  tho  intrusion  among  them  of  the 
expanded  warm  air  in  its  ascent.  Much  of  the  heat  of  tho  lower  atmosphere  is 
also  developed  in  the  conversion  of  vapor  into  clouds  by  condensation  from  cold. 

It  Is  In  this  way  that  our  seasons  arc  changed.  Let  our  savans  discover 
how  and  why  these  effects  ore  produced.  Until  they  do,  it  may  bo  suggested 
that  they  are  owing  to  electrical  atmospherical  disturbances  in  tho  upper  atmos- 
phere, repelling  the  negative  electricity  of  those  regions,  and  forcing  the  cold 


iii 

air  to  the  surface  of  the  earth,  where  It  displaces  the  wanner  and  more  rarefied 
and  expanded  air,  and  condenses  in  rain,  snow  and  hail,  the  vapors  it  contains, 
driving  the  displaced  warmer  air  to  the  tropics,  and  tho  heat  from  the  tropics 
attracted  to  the  condensed  vapor  in  the  clouds  in  tho  temperate  zones  to  liquefy 
them  in  rain,  producing  winter. 

In  the  opposite  manner  tho  warm  seasons  of  spring  and  summer  are  pro- 
duced by  the  positive  electricity  of  the  surfaco-air  of  tho  earth  becoming  warmed 
by  increased  radiation  of  heat  from  the  interior  of  tho  earth,  repelling  itself, 
and  displacing  the  upper  strata  of  cold  air,  till  by  induction  of  electricity  tho 
temperature  of  the  season  is  established- 
Geologists  toll  us  that  in  the  early  existence  of  this  planet,  the  greater  part 
of  the  earth's  surface  was  covered  with  ice,  and  that  this  period  of  time  is  called 
the  Glacial  Period. 

Let  us  imagine  that  the  igneous  action  of  tho  elementary  substances  of  tho 
interior  of  the  earth's  crust,  just  before  that  period,  might  have  been  so  intense 
as  by  the  radiation  of  its  heat  to  the  surface  of  the  earth  to  rarefy  the  lower 
atmosphere,  converting  into  vapor  the  water  it  contained,  and  forcing  it  upward 
till  the  whole  surface  of  the  earth  was  almost  incandescent. 

To  restore  tho  equilibrium,  tho  canopy  of  cold  repelled  by  its  own  negative 
electricity  from  above,  which  has  been  increased  by  the  currents  of  polar  elec- 
tricity, largely  developed  by  this  central  and  interior  igneous  action — and 
attracted  by  tho  positive  electricity  in  the  heated  atmosphere  below — descended 
to  the  surface  of  the  earth,  condensing  the  vapors  of  the  atmosphere  into  rain, 
and  afterwards  into  hail  and  snow,  driving  the  remainder  of  the  wanner  air 
of  what  we  call,  now,  tho  temperate  zones,  to  the  tropics,  and  covering  the 
surfaces  of  the  earth,  from  tho  poles  to  the  tropics,  with  a  dense  mantle  of  ice, 
freezing  the  rivers,  bays,  and  seas  of  those  latitudes.  The  internal  central  fires 
thus  concentrated,  in  due  season  increased  their  radiation  of  heat,  and  melted 
the  superjacent  ice,  which,  breaking  from  the  sides  of  glaciers  in  large  masses, 
slid  and  rolled  to  the  ocean,  there  becoming  icebergs,  and  carrying  with  them 
those  immense  boulders  which,  torn  from  tho  mountain  sides  by  the  adhesion 
of  the  ice,  have  left  the  traces  of  their  furrows  on  the  slopes  of  the  mountains, 
and  have  marked  their  courses  till,  by  the  melting  of  the  bergs,  they  have 
been  dropped  in  the  ocean,  which  subsequently,  by  its  subsidence,  have  left 
them  dry  on  the  land.  If  such  was  the  cause  of  the  glacial  period,  it  would 
require  no  great  stretch  of  fancy  to  comprehend  the  deluge  of  Deucalion  or 
that  of  our  great  ancestor  Noah,  when  the  rain  descended  for  forty  daya ; 


iv 

occasioned  no  doubt  by  a  lesser  descent  of  the  canopy  of  cold  (limiting  Its 
effect  to  the  condensation  of  the  vapors  of  the  atmosphere  into  rain)  than 
that  which  produced  the  glacial  period. 

If  ouch  effects  follow  from  such  causes,  we  need  not  be  at  a  loss  to  account 
for  the  changes  of  our  seasons,  or  the  daily  variations  of  temperature  in  every 
locality. 

This  edition  of  our  memoir  has  been  printed  upon  tinted  paper  with  blue 
ink,  as  an  experiment,  in  an  attempt  to  relieve  the  eyes  of  the  reader  from  the 
great  glare,  occasioned  by  the  reflection  of  gas  light  at  night  from  the  white 
paper  usually  employed  in  tho  printing  of  books.  If  it  shall  succeed  we  may 
hope  to  see  the  tinted  paper  introduced  for  all  book*  and  periodicals. 

PHILADELPHIA,  July  29,  187L 


PREFACE  TO  THE  LAST  EDITION. 


IN  the  previous  editions  of  my  memoir  "  On  the  Influence  of  the  Blue  Colour 
of  the  Sky  in  Developing  Animal  and  Vegetable  Life,"  an  erroneous  impres- 
sion has  been  created  by  the  ambiguity  of  the  language  employed  in  describing 
the  results  of  my  experiments  with  light.  From  the  tints  reflected  from  the 
outside  of  the  coloured  glass,  upon  certain  localities  in  my  terraced  garden,  I 
fancied  that  the  glass  itself  was  of  a  violet  tint,  and  so  attributed  the  remarkable 
results  within  the  grapery  to  violet  rays.  Upon  my  attention  having  been 
called  to  this  apparent  discrepancy,  I  investigated  the  matter,  and  found  that  the 
glass  was  of  a  dark  mazarine  blue — owing  its  colour  to  a  preparation  of  cobalt, 
which  had  been  fused  with  the  materials  composing  the  glass  during  its  manu- 
facture— and  that  the  reflection  of  the  violet  ray  on  the  outside  was  due  to  the 
irregular  surface  of  the  glass  itself  upon  which  the  light  of  the  firmament,  as 
well  as  of  the  sunlight  had  fallen,  and  had  been  thus  reflected.  Whatever  effect 
r::iy  be  produced  by  the  use  of  violet  coloured  glass  is  to  be  attributed  to  the 
proportion  of  the  blue  ray  which  enters  into  the  composition  of  the  violet  rays  of 
light,  and  not  to  those  composite  rays  themselves. 

This  edition,  begun  in  the  summer  of  the  year  1873,  has  been  prepared  at 
intervals  snatched  from  the  occupations  of  a  busy  life,  which  will  account  "for 
ruy  incoherences  that  may  appear  in  the  subjects  as  they  are  treated  herein. 


The  following  memoir  was  read  by  GET?.  A.  J.  PLEASONTON. 
before  the  Philadelphia  Society  for  Promoting  Agriculture,  on 
Wednesday,  the  3d  of  May,  1871,  at  their  room,  S.  W.  corner 
of  9th  and  Walnut  Streets,  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  npon 
the  following  request : 

1309  WALNUT  ST.,  April  27th,  1871. 
MR  DEAR  GENERAL: 

Will  it  suit  you,  and  will  you  do  us  the  favor  to  explain  your 
process  of  using  glass  in  improving  stock  to  the  Philadelphia  So- 
ciety for  Promoting  Agriculture,  on  Wednesday  next,  the  3d  of 
May,  at  eleven  o'clock,  A.M.,  at  their  Boom,  S.  W.  corner  of  Ninth 
and  Walnut  Streets,  (entrance  on  Ninth  street)  ?  You  were  kind 
enough  to  express  to  me.  in  conversation,  your  willingness  to  give 
us  the  result  of  your  experiments. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

W.  H.  DRAYTQN, 

President* 
GENERAL  PLEASONTCH. 


Mr,  President  and  Gentlemen  of  The  Philadelphia  Society  for 
Promoting  Agriculture. 

At  the  request  of  my  old  friend  and  your  respected  Presi- 
dent, J  have  attended  your  meeting  this  morning  to  impart  to 
you  the  results  of  certain  experiments  that  I  have  made  within 
the  last  ten  years  in  attempts  to  utilize  the  blue  color  of  the 
sky  in  the  development  of  vegetable  and  animal  life. 

I  may  premise  that  for  a  long  time  I  have  thought  that  the 
blue  color  of  the  sky,  so  permanent  and  so  all-pervading,  and 
yet  so  varying  in  intensity  of  color,  according  to  season  and 
latitude,  must  have  some  abiding  relation  and  intimate  con- 
nection with  the  living  organisms  on  this  planet. 

Deeply  impressed  with  this  idea,  in  the  autumn  of  the  year 
1860,  I  commenced  the  erection  of  a  cold  grapery  on  my  farm 
in  the  western  part  of  this  city.  I  remembered  that  while  a 
student  of  chemistry  I  was  taught  that  in  the  analysis  of  the 
ray  of  the  sun  by  the  prism,  in  the  year  1666,  by  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton, he  had  resolved  it  into  the  seven  primary  rays,  viz  :  red, 
orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  indigo  and  violet,  and  had  disco- 
vered that  these  elementary  rays  had  different  indices  of  refrac- 
tion ;  that  for  the  red  ray  at  one  side  of  the  solar  spectrum  being 
the  least,  while  that  of  the  violet  at  the  opposite  side  thereof  was 
the  greatest,  from  which  he  deduced  his  celebrated  doctrine 
of  the  different  refrangibility  of  the  rays  of  light ;  and  further,  that 
Sir  John  Ilerschel  in  his  subsequent  investigation  of  the  pro- 
perties of  light  had  shown  that  the  chemical  power  of  the  solar 
ray  is  greatest  in  the  blue  rays,  which  give  the  least  light  of  any  of 
the  luminous  prismatic  radiations,  but  the  largest  quantity  of  so- 
lar heat,  and  that  later  experiments  established  the  fact  of  the 
stimulating  influence  of  the  blue  rays  upon  vegetation.  Having 
concluded  to  make  a  practical  application  of  the  properties  of 
the  blue  and  violet  rays  of  light  just  referred  to  in  stimulating  ve- 
getable life,  I  began  to  inquire  in  every  accessible  direction  if 
this  stimulating  quality  of  the  blue  or  violet  ray  had  ever  re- 
ceived any  practical  useful  application.  My  inquiries  developed 
the  facts  that  various  experiments  had  been  made  in  England 
and  on  the  European  continent  with  glass  colored  with  j*ach  of 


the  several  primary  rajs,  but  that  they  were  so  unsatisfactory 
in  their  results  that  nothing  useful  came  of  them  so  far  as  any 
improvement  in  the  process  of  developing  vegetation  was  con- 
cerned. Finding  no  beaten  track,  I  was  left  to  grope  my  way 
as  best  I  could  under  the  guidance  of  the  violet  ray  alone. 

rapery  was  finished  in  March,  1861.    Its  dimensions  were, 

•  •t  long,  26  feet  wide,  16  feet  high  at  the  ridge,  with  a  dou- 
ble-pitched roof.  It  was  built  at  the  foot  of  a  terraced  garden,  in 
the  direction  of  N.  E.  by  E.  to  S.  W.  by  "W.  On  three'sides  of  it 
there  was  a  border  12  feet  wide,  and  on  the  fourth  or  N.  E.  by 
E.  side  the  border  was  only  five  feet  wide,  being  a  walk  of  the 
garden.  The  borders  inside  and  outside  were  excavated  3  feet 
6  inches  deep,  and  were  filled  up  with  the  usual  nutritive  mat- 
ter, carefully  prepared  for  growing  vines.  I  do  not  think  they 
differed  essentially  from  thousands  of  other  borders  which 
have  been  made  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  The  first  ques- 
tion to  be  solved  on  the  completion  of  the  frame  of  the 
grapery,  was  the  proportion  of  blue  or  violet  glass  to  be  used 
on  the  roof.  Should  too  much  be  used,  it  would  reduce  the 
temperature  too  much,  and  cause  a  failure  of  the  experiment; 
if  too  little,  it  would  not  afford  a  fair  test.  At  a  venture  I 
adopted  every  eighth  row  of  glass  on  the  roof  to  be  violet 
colored,  alternating  the  rows  on  opposite  sides  of  the  roof,  so 
that  the  sun  in  its  daily  course  should  cast  a  beam  of  violet 
light  on  every  leaf  in  the  grapery.  Cuttings  of  vines  of  some 
twenty  varieties  of  grapes,  each  one  year  old,  of  the  thickness 
of  a  pipe-stem,  and  cut  close  to  the  pots  containing  them,  were 
planted  in  the  borders  inside  and  outside  of  the  grapery,  in 
the  early  part  of  April,  1861.  Soon  after  being  planted  the 
growth  of  the  vines  began.  Those  on  the  outside  were 
trained  through  earthen  pipes  in  the  walls  to  the  inside,  and 

icy  grew  they  were  tied  up  to  the  wires  like  those  which 
had  been  planted  within.  Very  soon  the  vines  began  to  at- 
tract great  notice  of  all  who  saw  them  from  the  rapid  growth 

\vere  making.  Every  day  disclosed  some  new  extension, 
and  tin-  £:irdencr  was  kept  busy  in  tying  up  the  new  wood 
which  the  day  before  he  had  not  observed.  In  a  few  weeks 
after  the  vines  had  been  planted,  the  walls  and  inside  of  the 
roof  were  closely  covered  with  the  most  luxurious  and  healthy 
development  of  foliage  and  wood. 

In  the  early  part  of  September,  1861,  Mr.  Robert  Buist,  Sr., 
a  noted  seedsman  and  distinguished  horticulturist  from  whom 
I  had  procured  the  vines,  naving  heard  of  their  wonderful 
growth,  visited  the  grapery.  On  entering  it  he  seemed  to  be 


lost  in  amazement  at  what  he  saw;  after  examining  it  very  care- 
fully, turning  to  me,  he  said,  "General!  I  Lave  born  cultivating 
plants  and  vines  of  various  kinds  for  the  last  forty  years;  I  have 
seen  some  of  the  best  vineries  and  conservatories  in  England  and 
Scotland,  but  I  have  never  seen  anything  like  this  growth." 
He  then  measured  some  of  the  vines  and  found  them  forty- 
five  feet  in  length,  and  an  inch  in  diameter  at  the  distance  of 
one  foot  above  the  ground  ;  and  these  dimensions  were  the 
growth  of  only  five  months !  He  then  remarked,  "  I  visited 
last  week  a  new  grapery  near  Darby,  the  vines  in  which  I  fur- 
nished at  the  same  time  I  did  yours ;  they  were  of  the  same 
varieties,  of  like  age  and  size,  when  they  were  planted  as  yours ; 
they  were  planted  at  the  same  time  with  yours.  When  I  saw 
them  last  week,  they  were  puny  spindling  plants  not  more 
than  five  feet  long,  and  scarcely  increased  in  diameter  since 
they  were  planted — and  yet  they  have  had  the  best  possible 
care  and  attendance  ! " 

The  vines  continued  healthy  and  to  grow,  making  an  abun- 
dance of  young  wood  during  the  remainder  of  the  season  of 
1861. 

In  March  of  1862  they  were  started  to  grow,  having  been 
pruned  and  cleaned  in  January  of  that  year.  The  growth  in 
this  second  season  was,  if  anything,  more  remarkable  than  it 
had  been  in  the  previous  year.  Besides  the  formation  of  new 
wood  and  the  display  of  the  most  luxuiriant  foliage,  there  was 
a  wonderful  number  of  bunches  of  grapes,  which  soon  assumed 
the  most  remarkable  proportions — the  bunches  being  of  extra- 
ordinary magnitude,  and  the  grapes  of  unusual  size  and  de- 
velopment. 

In  September  of  1862  the  same  gentleman  Mr.  Robert  Buist, 
Sr.,  who  had  visited  the  grapery  the  year  before  came  again — 
this  time  accompa  nied  by  his  foreman.  The  grapes  were  then 
beginning  to  color  and  to  ripen  rapidly.  On  entering  the  grapery, 
astonished  at  the  wonderful  display  of  foliage  and  fruit  which  it 
presented,  he  stood  for  a  while  in  silent  amazement ;  he  then 
slowly  walked  around  the  grapery  several  times,  critically  ex- 
amining its  wonders ;  when  taking  from  his  pocket  paper  and 
pencil,  he  noted  on  the  paper  each  bunch  of  grapes,  and  esti- 
mated its  weight,  after  which  aggregating  the  whole,  he  came  to 
me  and  said,  "  General !  do  you  know  that  you  have  1200  pounds 
of  grapes  in  this  grapery  ?"  On  my  saying  that  I  had  no  idea 
of  the  quantity  it  contained,  he  continued,  "  you  have  indeed 
that  weight  of  fruit,  but  I  would  not  dare  to  publish  it,  for  no 


8 

one  would  believe  me."  "We  may  well  conceive  of  his  aston- 
ishment at  this  product  when  we  are  reminded  that  in  grape- 
growing  countries  where  grapes  have  heen  grown  for  centu- 
that  a  period  of  time  of  from  five  to  six  years  will  elapse 
•e  a  single  hunch  of  grapes  can  ho  produced  from  a  young 
vino — while  hefore  him  in  the  second  year  of  the  growth  of 
vines  which  he  himself  had  furnished  only  seventeen  months 
before,  he  saw  this  remarkable  yield  of  the  finest  and  choicest 
varieties  of  grapes.  He  might  well  say  that  an  account  of  it 
would  be  incredible. 

During  the  next  season  (18G3)  the  vines  again  fruited  and 
matured  a  crop  of  grapes  estimated  by  comparison  with  the 
yield  of  the  previous  year  to  weigh  about  two  tons  ;  the  vines 
were  perfectly  healthy  and  free  from  the  usual  maladies  which 
ail'ect  the  grape.  By  this  time  the  grapery  and  its  products 
had  become  partially  known  among  cultivators,  who  said  that 
such  excessive  crops  would  exhaust  the  vines,  and  that  the 
following  year  there  would  be  no  fruit,  as  it  was  well  known 
that  all  plants  required  rest  after  yielding  large  crops ;  notwith- 
standing, new  wood  was  formed  this  year  for  the  next  year's 
crop,  which  turned  out  to  be  quite  as  large  as  it  had  been  in 
the  season  of  1863,  and  so  on  year  by  year  the  vines  have  con- 
tinued to  bear  large  crops  of  fine  fruit  without  intermission 
for  the  last  nine  years.  They  are  now  healthy  and  strong, 
and  as  yet  show  no  signs  of  decrepitude  or  exhaustion. 

The  success  of  the  grapery  induced  me  to  make  an  experi- 
ment with  animal  life.     In  the  autumn  of  1869  I  built  a  pig- 
gery and  introduced  into  the  roof  and  three  sides  of  it  violet- 
colored  and  white  glass  in   equal  proportions — half  of  each 
kind.     Separating  a  recent  litter  of  Chester  county  pigs  into 
two  parties,  I  placed  three  sows  and  one  barrow  pig  in  the 
ordinary  pen,  and  three  other  sows  and  one  other  barrow  pig 
in  the  pen  under  the  violet  glass.     The  pigs  were  all  about 
two  months  old.     The  weight  of  the  pigs  was  as  follows,  viz : 
Under  the  violet  glass,  No.  1  sow,  42  Ibs.,  No.  2,  a  barrow  pig, 
.  !>s.,  No.  3,  a  sow,  38  Ibs.,  No.  4,  a  sow  42,  Ibs.,  their  ag- 
ate weight  167 £  Ibs.     The  weight  of  the  others  in  the 
•uon  pen  was  as  follows,  viz  :  No.  1.,  a  sow,  50  Ibs.,  No.  2, 
a  BOW,  48  Ihs.,  No.  3,  a  harrow  big,  59  Ibs.,  No.  4,  a  sow,  46 
Ibs;  their  aggregate  weight  was  203  Ibs.     It  will  be  observed 
that   each  of  the  pigs  under  the  violet  glass  was  lighter  in 
:it  than  the  lightest  in  weight  pig  of  those  under  the  sun- 
light alone  in  the  common  pen.     The  two  sets  of  pigs  were 
treated  exactly  alike ;  fed  with  the  same  kinds  of  food  at 


equal  intervals  of  time,  and  with  equal  quantities  by  measure 
at  each  meal,  and  were  attended  by  the  same  man.  Tlniv 
were  put  in  the  pens  on  the  3d  day  of  November,  1869,  anil 
kept  there  until  the  4th  day  of  March,  1870,  when  they  were 
weighed  again.  By  some  misconception  of  my  orders,  the 
separate  weight  of  each  pig  was  not  had.  The  aggregate 
weight  of  the  three  sows  under  the  violet  light  on  the  3d  of 
November,  1869,  was  122  Ibs;  on  the  4th  of  March,  1870,  it 
was  520  Ibs.,  increase  398  Ibs. 

The  aggregate  weight  of  the  three  sows  in  the  old  pens  on 
the  3d  of  November,  1869,  was  144  Ibs.,  and  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1870,  it  was  530  Ibs.,  increase  386  Ibs.,  or  12  Ibs.  less 
than  those  under  the  violet  glass  had  gained. 

The  weight  of  the  barrow  pig  in  the  common  pen  on  the 
3d  of  November,  1869,  was  59  Ibs.,  and  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1870,  it  was  210  Ibs.,  increase  151  Ibs.  The  weight  of  the 
barrow  pig  under  the  violet  light,  on  the  3d  of  November, 
1869,  was  45J  Ibs.,  and  on  the  4th  of  March,  1870,  it  was  170 
Ibs.,  increase  124J  Ibs.  The  large  increase  of  the  weight  of 
the  barrow  pig  in  the  common  pen  is  to  be  attributed  to  his 
superior  size  and  weight  on  being  put  in  the  same  common 
pen  with  the  three  sows,  and  which  enabled  him  to  seize  upon 
and  appropriate  to  himself  more  than  his  share  of  the  com- 
mon food. 

If  the  barrow  pig  under  the  violet  light  had  increased  at 
the  rate  of  increase  of  the  barrow  pig  in  the  common  pen,  his 
weight  on  the  4th  March,  1870,  would  have  been  only  161,^, 
Ibs.  instead  of  his  actual  weight  of  170  Ibs. — showing  his  rate 
of  increase  of  weight  to  have  been  8^  Ibs.  more  than  that  of 
the  other  barrow  pig. 

If  the  barrow  pig  under  the  sunshine  in  the  common  pen 
had  increased  at  the  rate  of  increase  of  the  barrow  pig  under 
the  violet  glass,  his  weight  on  the  4th  of  March,  1870,  should 
have  been  224$,  Ibs.  instead  of  210  Ibs.,  his  actual  weight  at 
that  date. 

By  these  comparisons  it  seems  obvious  that  the  influence  of 
the  violet-colored  glass  was  very  marked,  although  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  owing  to  the  great  declination  of  the  sun 
during  the  period  of  the  experiment  and  the  consequent  com- 
parative feebleness  of  the  force  of  the  actinic  or  chemical  rays 
of  the  blue  sky  at  that  time,  the  effect  was  not  so  great  as  it 
would  have  been  at  a  later  period  of  the  season  ;  but  the  time 


10 

of  the  experiment  was  selected  for  that  very  reason.  The 
animals  were  not  fed  to  produce  fat  or  increase  of  size,  but 
simply  to  ascertain,  if  practicable,  whether  by  the  ordinary 
mode  of  feeding  usual  on  farms  in  this  country,  the  develop- 
ment of  stock  could  be  hastened  by  exposing  them  in  pens  to 
•mibined  influence  of  sunlight  and  the  transmitted  rays 
of  the  blue  sky. 

My  next  experiment  was  with  an  Alderney  bull  calf  born  on 

-•'•tli  of  January,  1870;  at  its  birth  it  was  so  puny  and  fee- 
ble that  the  man  who  attends  upon  my  stock,  a  very  expe- 
rienced hand,  told  me  that  it  could  not  live.  I  directed  him 
to  put  it  in  one  of  the  pens  under  the  violet  glass.  It  was  done. 
In  -4  hours  a  v«-ry  sensible  change  had  occurred  in  the  animal. 
It  had  arisen  on  its  feet,  walked  about  the  pen,  took  its  food 
freely  by  the  linger,  and  manifested  great  vivacity.  In  a  few- 
days  its  feeble  condition  had  entirely  disappeared.  It  began 
to  grow,  and  its  development  was  marvelous.  On  the  31st 
li,  1870,  2  months  and  5  days  after  its  birth,  its  rapid 
growth  was  so  apparent,  that  as  its  hind  quarter  was  then 
growing,  I  told  my  son  to  measure  its  height,  and  to  note 
down  in  writing  the  height  of  the  hind  quarter,  and  the  time 
of  measurement — which  he  did.  On  the  20th  of  the  follow- 
!;:y  >  1XTO),  just  fifty  days  afterwards, .my  son  again  mea- 
!  the  hind  quarter,  and  found  that  in  that  time  it  bad 
gained  ex"<'f('/  .v>x  inches  in  height,  rarrji'mij  its  lateral  development 
with  it.  Believing  the  question  solved,  the  calf  was  turned  into 
the  barn-yard,  and  when  mingling  with  the  cows  he  manifested 
every  symptom  of  full  masculine  vigor,  though  at  the  time  he 
was  only  four  months  old.  Since  the  1st  of  April  of  this  year, 
when  he  was  just  14  months  old,  he  has  been  kept  with  my 
j,  and  has  fulfilled  every  expectation  that  I  had 
formed  of  him.  lie  is  now  one  of  the  best  developed  animals 
that  can  be  found  any  where. 

Tip  'lemon,  are  the  experiments  about  which  your 

M  excited.     If  by  the  combination  of  sunlight 
and    blue,  light   from    the  sky,  you  can  mature  quadrupeds  in 
twelve  months  with  no  greater  supply  of  food  than  would  be 
lor  an  immature  animal  in   the  same  period,  you  can 
scan  Hie  immeasurable  value  of  this  discovery 

to  an  agricultural  people.  You  would  no  longer  have  to  wait 
live  r  the  maturity  of  a  colt;  and  all  your  animals 

could  be  produced  in  the  greatest  abundance  and  variety.  A 
prominent  member  of  the  bar  a  short  time  since  told  me  that 
his  sister,  who  is  a  widow  of  a  late  distinguished  general  in 


11 

the  army,  had  applied  blue  light  to  the  rearing  of  poultry, 
with  the  most  remarkable  success,  after  having  heard  of  my 
experiments.  In  regard  to  the  human  family,  its  influence 
would  be  wide  spread — you  could  not  only  in  the  temperate 
regions  produce  the  early  maturity  of  the  tropics,  but  you 
could  invigorate  the  constitutions  of  invalids,  and  develop  in 
the  young,  a  generation,  physically  and  intellectually,  which 
might  become  a  marvel  to  mankind.  Architects  would  be 
required  to  so  arrange  the  introduction  of  these  mixed  rays  of 
light  into  our  houses,  that  the  occupants  might  derive  the 
greatest  benefit  from  their  influence.  Mankind  will  then  not 
only  be  able  to  live  fast,  but  they  can  live  well  and  also  live 
lone:. 


•&• 


Let  us  attempt  an  explanation  of  this  phenomenon.  It  is 
well  known  that  differences  of  temperature  evolve  electricity, 
as  do  also  evaporation,  pressure  suddenly  produced  or  suddenly 
removed,  in  which  may  be  comprised  a  blow  or  stroke,  as,  for 
instance,  from  the  horseshoe  in  the  rapid  motion  of  a  horse  on 
a  stone  in  the  pavement,  striking  fire,  which  is  kindled  by  the 
electricity  evolved  in  the  impact,  or,  again,  from  the  collision 
of  two  silicious  stones  in  which  there  is  no  iron,  is  electricity 
produced. 

Friction  even  of  two  pieces  of  dried  wood  excites  combus- 
tion by  the  evolution  of  hydrogen  gas  which  bursts  into  flame 
when  brought  into  contact  with  the  opposite  electricity  evolved 
by  the  heat.  Chrystallization,  the  freezing  of  water,  the 
melting  of  ice  or  snow — every  act  of  combination  in  respira- 
tion, every  movement  and  contraction  of  organic  tissues,  and, 
indeed,  every  change  in  the  form  of  matter  evolve  electricity, 
which  in  turn  contributes  to  form  new  modifications  of  the 
matter  which  has  yielded  it. 

The  diamond,  about  whose  origin  so  much  mystery  lias 
always  existed,  it  is  likely,  is  the  product  of  the  decomposition 
of  carbonic  acid  gas  in  .the  higher  atmosphere  by  electricity, 
liberating  the  oxygen  gas,  converting  it  into  ozone,  fusing  the 
carbon,  and  "by  the  intense  cold  there  prevailing,  which  is  of 
opposite  electricity,  chrystallizing  the  fused  carbon,  which  is 
precipitated  by  its  gravity  to  the  earth. 

To  the  repellent  affinity  of  electricity  are  we  indebted  for 
the  expansive  force  of  steam  whose  power  wields  the  mighty 
trip  hammer,  propels  the  ship  through  the  ocean,  and  draws 
the  train  over  the  land — and  to  the  opposite  electricities  of  the 
heated  steam  and  the  cold  water  introduced  into  the  boiler  to 


12 

replenish  it,  do  we  owe  those  terrible  explosions  in  steam 
boilers  whose  prevention  has  hitherto  defied  human  skill. 
But  the  most  interesting  application  of  electricity,  ig  in 
nature's  development  of  vegetation.  Let  us  illustrate  it : 

Seed  perfectly  dried,  but  still  retaining  the  vital  principle, 
like  the  seed  of  wheat  preserved  tor  thousands  of  years  in 
mummy  cases  in  the  catacombs  of  Egypt,  if  planted  in  a  soil 
of  the  richest  alluvial  deposits,  also  thoroughly  dried,  will  not 
germinate.  Why?  Let  us  examine.  The  alluvial  soil  is 
composed  of  the  debris  of  hills  and  mountains  containing  an 
extensive  variety  of  metallic  and  metalloid  compounds  min- 
gled  with  the  remains  of  vegetable  and  animal  matter  in  a 
state  of  great  comminution,  washed  by  the  rains  and  carried 
by  freshets  into  the  depressions  of  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

o  various  elements  of  the  soil  have  different  electrical 
attributes.  In  a  perfectly  dry  state  no  electrical  action  will 
occur  among  them,  but  let  the  rain,  bringing  with  it  ammonia 
and  carbonic  aeid,  in  however  minute  quantities,  from  the 
upper  atmosphere,  fall  upon  this  alluvial  soil,  so  as  to  moisten 
its  mass  within  the  influence  of  light,  heat,  and  air,  and  plant, 
your  seed  within  it,  and  what  will  you  observe  ?  Rapid  germi- 
nation of  the  seed.  Why?  The  slightly  acidulated,  or  it  may 
be  alkaline  water  of  the  rain  has  formed  the  medium  to  excite 
galvanic  currents  of  electricity  in  the  heterogeneous  matter  of 

Alluvial   soil — the  vitality  of  the  seed  is  developed  and 

•able  life  is  the  result.  Hence  vegetable  life  owes  its 
to  electricity.  Herein  consists  the  secret  of  success- 
ful agriculture.  If  you  can  maintain  the  currents  of  electri- 
city at  the  roots  of  plants  by  supplying  the  acidulated  or 
alkaline  moisture  to  excite  them  during  droughts,  you  will 

e  the  most  abundant  and  unvarying  crops.  To  do  this, 
your  soil  should  be  composed  of  the  m<>M  varied  elements, 
mineral,  earthy,  alkaline,  vegetable,  and  animal  matter  in  a 
state  of  greatly  comminuted  decomposition. 

The  poverty  of  soils  arises  from  the  homogeneous  character 
of  their  composition.  A  soil  altogether  clayey,  or  composed  of 
fiilici'  I.  or  the  <t<l>ris  of  limestone,  or  of  alkaline  sub- 

irily  be  barren  for  the  want 

of  electrical   exeitement,  which  no  one  of  the  said  elements 
will    ;  ;   but    commingle   them  all  with  the  addition  of 

•able  and  animal  matter,  and  you  will  form  a 
soil  which  will  amply  reward  the  toil  of  the  husbandman. 

What  do  you  suppose  lias  produced  the  giant  trees  of  Call- 


13 

forma?  Electricity!  Since  the  west  coast  of  America  has 
been  known  to  Europeans,  and  perhaps  for  centuries  be- 
fore, it  has  been  subjortvd  to  the  most  devastating  earth- 
quakes. From  the  Straits  of  M:i  Lallan  to  the  Arctic 
Ocean,  traces  of  volcanic  action  are  everywhere  visible.  Its 
mountains  have  been  upheaved,  broken,  torn  asunder,  and 
sometimes,  like  Ossa  upon  Pelion,  one  has  been  superimposed 
on  another. 

All  volcanic  countries  are  noted  in  the  temperate  regions, 
where  they  produce  anything,  for  the  exuberance  of  their 
vegetable  productions.  Etna  has  been  famous  for  its  large 
Chestnut  trees,  which  have  given  a  name  Catania  to  the  town 
near  its  base. 

The  mineral  richness  of  California  has  doubtless,  by  the 
debris  of  its  mountains,  carried  into  the  valleys  where  grow 
these  large  trees,  furnished  an  immense  deposite  of  various 
matter  which,  under  the  favorable  circumstances  of  the  locali- 
ties, have  maintained  for  ages  a  healthful  electrical  excitement 
resulting  through  centuries  of  undisturbed  growth  in  these 
vegetable  wonders. 

Who  is  there  that  has  not  been  struck  with  admiration  in 
looking  upon  the  firmament,  when  the  atmosphere  was  clear- 
est, and  was  unclouded  by  the  slightest  vapor, — when,  in  the 
brightness  of  sunlight,  it  would  put  on  its  livery  of  blue,  and 
display  its  resplendent  and  glorious  beauties?  How  many 
myriads  of  mankind,  in  all  ages,  have  gazed  upon  this  mag- 
nificent arch,  of  what  men  call  "sky;"  and  how  few  have  ever 
asked  the  question,  Why  is  the  sky  blue?  and  why  should  its 
intensity  of  blue  vary  in  different  latitudes,  and  in  different 
seasons  ? 

HUMBOLDT  said  he  had  never  seen  its  blue  so  intense  as  in 
the  tropics  and  under  the  equator.     Arctic  navigators  have  also 
declared,  that  in  the  arctic  regions  the  intensity  of  the  blue 
color  of  the  sky  was  amazing.     Here  are  two  extremes  of  lati- 
tude displaying  the  same  effect;  and  in  our  own  temperate  re- 
fion  many  have  observed  a  variation  in  the  intensity  of  the 
lue  of  the  sky,  in  different  seasons,  extending  from  the  early 
spring  until  the  close  of  autumn,  but  never  equaling  in  depth 
of  color  what  is  represented  of  it,  eithei  in  the  tropics  or  in 
the  arctic  or  antarctic  regions. 

On  no  part  of  our  planet  is  the  development  of  vegetable 
life  so  grand,  so  various,  so  excessive  and  so  constant  as  in  the 


14 

tropics  and  in  the  equatorial  regions.  While  this  wonderful 
disphiv  of  vegetation  is  observed  in  these  regions,  the  exuber- 
ance of  animal  life  and  the  rapid  growth  of  vegetable  life  in 
:.ivtic  regions  are  said  to  be  unequaled  in  any  other  part 
of  our  world.  Let  us  see  if  these  results  in  the  two  natural 
kin_  i ay  not  be  attributed  largely  to  the  same  cause. 

Recent  discoveries  have  shown  that  the  Zodiacal  light  over 
the  equator  and  the  aurorse  boreal  is  and  australis  are  evolu- 
»f  electricity.     In  the  arctic  regions  there  is  little  doubt 
that  the  auroras  are  constantly  evolved,  though  they  are  not 
alwavs  visible.     They  have  been  seen  to  emerge  from  the  sur- 
»f  the  ocean,  at  short  distances  from  the  observers,  and 
ding  into  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  to  present 
•ations  of  brilliant  light,  shooting  as  it  were  to 
luatorial  regions,  in  rapid  flashes,  for  which  they  have- 
been  noted  wherever  observed. 

In  the  equatorial  regions  it  is  well  known  that  at  certain 
periods  of  the  year  the  accumulation  of  electricity  in  the  upper 
-phere  is  so  excessive,  that  the  earth  is  shaken  with  thun- 
derbolts, and  the  air  illuminated  by  day  as  well  as  night  with 
constant  sheets  of  electric  flame,  as  they  rush  with  frightful 
velocity  to  their  great  centre  of  attraction,  the  earth  and  ocean 
in  those  regions.  Whence  does  this  electricity  come,  and 
where  does  it  go  ? 

If  we  may  be  permitted  to  form  a  conjecture,  we  might 
•'st  that  the  sixty  odd  primary  elements  which  enter  into 
omposition  of  the  crust  of  our  planet — such  as  carbon,, 
sulphur,  phosphorus,  oxygen,  nitrogen,  hydrogen,  the  metals,, 
M'talloids.  etc. — having  been  endowed  by  the  Creator  with 
•  rical  qualities  and  conditions — when  they  were 
.!>!«•(!  tog.-ther  in  this  planet,  evolved  in  the  interior  there- 
of ell  .  light,  heat,  and  magnetism  in  certain  or  variable 
quali                1   quantities.     The-e   constitute   the  forces  which 
in  all  probability  cause  the  rotation  of  the  earth  upon  its  axis, 
•  volution  around  the  sun.     The  electricity  of 
the  interior  of  the  earth  is  supposed  to  be  positive  electricity 
— which,  a-  -oon  as  evolved  there,  would  be  repelled  according 
to  tl.'  electricity  of  the  same  character  repelling  i 
— towani  !es  of  the   earth,   and  escaping   there,  would 
1'V  the   -  electricity  which  surrounds  the 
•1  would  display  itself  by  night  as  aurora-, 

confiscating  toward  the  equator,  to   !><•  there   attracted  by  the 
•  rial  regions,  and  descending  to  the  earth,  to  be 


15 

again  absorbed  by  it,  for  further  use.  This  escape  of  polar 
electricity  into  the  upper  atmosphere,  and  forming  at  night 
the  aurorse,  when  visible,  and  by  day  the  blue  firmament  or 
sky,  will  account  for  the  intensity  of  the  blue  color  of  the  sky 
both  in  the  arctic  regions  and  the  equatorial  regions. 

This  positive  electricity  of  the  central  interior  of  the  earth, 
repelling  itself  towards  the  poles,  and  from  there  into  the  at- 
mosphere through  the  arctic  and  antarctic  oceans,  and  attracted 
there  by  the  negative  electricity  of  the  upper  atmosphere, 
forms,  by  the  union  of  the  two  electricities,  the  auroras,  caus- 
ing those  crackling  detonations  heard  during  the  prevalence 
of  the  most  brilliant  auroras,  in  high  latitudes  and  evolving 
light,  which,  seen  through  the  vaporous  atmosphere  of  those 
latitudes,  is  displayed  by  refractions  of  its  rays  in  the  lumin- 
ous corruscations  of  varying  tints  as  the  rays  of  the  sun  or 
moon  are  converted  into  the  tints  of  the  rainbow. 

The  negative  electricity  of  those  frigid  regions  attracted  to 
the  equator  through  the  upper  atmosphere  is  there  concen- 
trated in  enormous  quantities,  which  are  conducted  and  dis- 
charged into  the  earth  or  ocean  in  the  tropics,  by  the  incessant 
fall  of  water  in  rain  during  the  rainy  seasons,  every  drop  of 
water  being  a  conductor  of  electricity,  and  every  leaf  of  vege- 
tation assisting  in  the  conduct  and  distribution  of  this  wonder- 
ful force  into  the  earth. 

As  under  certain  circumstances  electricity  becomes  magnet- 
ism, and  this  again  is  converted  into  electricity,  we  can  com- 
prehend how  the  auroral  rays  in  some  instances,  following  the 
law  of  dia-magnetism,  are  attracted  in  the  northern  hemisphere 
towards  the  southwest — magnetic  currents  flowing  from  east 
to  west  in  opposition  to  the  earth's  motion  from  west  to  east; 
hence  in  the  auroras  you  have  rays  shooting  to  the  zenith  over 
the  equator,  and  others  moving  southwest,  and  others  again 
due  west. 

The  simultaneous  appearance  of  auroras  frequently  observed 
in  opposite  hemispheres  in  corresponding  latitudes  would  go 
to  show  their  origin  from  a  common  impulse  in  the  central  in- 
terior repelling  them  towards  the  poles  from  under  the  equator. 

"We  now  come  to  a  presumed  explanation  of  one  of  the  rea- 
sons for  the  blue  color  of  the  sky. 

The  sun's  ray,  or  what  is  called  the  white  light  of  the  sun, 
was  resolved  by  means  of  a  glass  prism,  by  Sir  ISAAC  NEWTON, 
into  the  seven  primary  rays  of  light,  viz.,  red,  blue,  violet,  etc., 


16 

and  their  combination  again  produced  the  white  light-  show- 
ing 1  1  analytically  of  what  the  sun's  light 
was  compos  • 

It  was  announced  in  England  about  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  that  the  red  ray  of  light  was  heating,  the  yellow  ray 
.  Laminating,  nnd  //«  blue  ray  in  a  remarkable  degree  stimulated 
the  d<  vegetable  life. 

From  this  discovery  we  can  imagine  the  immense  influence 

which  the  intensely  blue  color  of  the  sky  in  the  equatorial 

:;d  always  has  had  in  conjunction  with  the  sun's 

•  liijht,  and  the  heat  and  moisture  of  those  regions,  upon 

the  development  there  of  vegetable  life. 

This  intensely  blue  color  of  the  sky  in  the  arctic  regions 
may  also  serve  to  explain  the  exuberance  of  animal  life  there. 
It  being  known  that  the  deeper  water  of  the  arctic  ocean  is 
much  wanner  than  the  surface  water  which  is  often  frozen, 
furnishes  abundant  food  for  its  inhabitants.     The  increased 
temperature  of  this  deep  water  is  probably  derived  from  radi- 
ation of  heat   from  the  interior  of  the  earth  under  it — as  all 
.ions  are  more  or  less  volcanic ;  witness  Iceland,  Jean 
Spitsbergen,  etc.     The  laws  of  animal  and  vegetable 
life  1  -ry  analogous,  what  would  stimulate  one  would 

probably  have  a  similar  effect  upon  the  other. 

In  the  arctic  waters  you  have  warmth,  food,  light  and  elec- 
tric!; ing  through  the  waters  into  the  air,  and  all  stimu- 
lat: 

Whoever  has  noticed   the   color  of  the  electric  spark  in  at- 

iieric  air,  from  an   electrical   machine,  will  readily  recog- 
it.->  likeness  of  color  to  the  blue  color  of  the  sky. 
If  expel-in,'  ;ld   be  instituted  to  ascertain  the  electri- 

cal coiidiiion  of  tlie  .>ky,  as  associated  in'/ It  /Av  blue  color,  and  they 
shon  >15sh  the  .•onneetion,  the  result  would 

\B\   blessing-  'iiferred  upon 

:ii>d.      Wh;.-  ii  of  vitality  could  be  infused  into  the 

it ure  invalid,  and   the  decrepit  octogena- 
rian!     How   ra). idly   might  the  various  races  of  our  don 
anii:  multiplied,  and   how  much  might  their  individual 

proportions  be  enlar;. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  illustrations  of  the  mighty  influ- 
ence  of  the  blue  color  of  the  sky  upon   vegetation,  is  to  be 
d  in  the  ..lor  of  the  leaves  of  plants.     It  is  known 

that  blue   and   yellow    when    mixed   produce   green,  which  ia 


17 

darker  when  the  blue  is  in  excess  over  the  yellow,  and  the  re 
verse  when  the  yellow  predominates.  Now  let  us  observe  the 
process  of  germination.  Seeds  are  planted  in  the  soil — at  first 
a  white  worm-like  thread  at  the  lo\ver  part  of  the  seed  appears; 
it  is  white,  and  contains  all  the  primary  rays  of  light ;  it  is  the 
root  of  the  plant,  and  remaining  under  the  soil  continues  white. 
At  the  upper  end  of  the  seed  also  appears  a  white  swelling, 
which  continues  to  grow  upward  till  it  approaches  the  surface 
of  the  soil,  when  a  change  occurs  in  its  color.  This  is  the  leaf; 
it  absorbs  yellow  from  the  soil  which  is  brown  (composed  of 
yellow  and  black),  and  as  it  comes  within  the  influence  of  the 
blue  sky,  it  absorbs  from  it  the  blue  light,  which  mixing  with 
the  yellow  already  absorbed,  produces  at  first  a  yellowish-green, 
which  finally  assumes  the  deeper  tinge  of  green  that  is  natural 
to  the  plant.  The  plant  blossoms,  forms  its  seeds  and  seed- 
vessels,  and  having  fulfilled  its  mission,  the  blue  color  of  the 
leaves  is  eliminated,  the  leaves  become  yellow,  and  absorbing 
the  carbon  of  the  plant,  they  change  their  color  to  brown  ;  the 
sap-vessels  of  the  leaves  are  choked  by  the  carbon ;  the  leaves 
are  dead  and  fall  to  the  ground.  Thus  the  blue  *ray  is  the 
symbol  of  vitality — the  yellow  ray  that  of  decay  and  death. 

Robert  Hunt,  in  his  Researches  on  Light,  says  "  that  the 
rays  of  greatest  refrangibility,  viz.,  the  violet,  &c.,  favor  dis- 
oxygenation,  but  the  rays  of  least  refrangibility,  viz.,  red, 
orange,  &c.,  favor  oxygenation." 

"  The  experiments  of  Seunebier  show  that  the  most  refran- 

fible  of  the  solar  rays,  viz.,  the  violet,  are  the  most  active  in 
etermining  the  decomposition  of  carbonic  acid  gas  by  plants." 

These  experiments  have  been  confirmed  by  Mr.  Robert 
Hunt,  who  says,  "  that  experiments  have  been  made  with  ab- 
sorbent media,  and  the  light  which  has  been  carefully  ana- 
lyzed, permeating  under  the  influence  of  blue  light,  in  every 
instance  oxygen  gas  has  been  collected,  but  not  any  under  the 
energetic  action  of  yellow  or  red  light.  *  *  It  is  only  the  green 
parts  of  plants  which  absorb  carbonic  acid :  the  flowers  absorb 
oxygen  gas.  Plants  grow  in  soils  composed  of  divers  mate- 
rials, and  they  derive  from  these  by  the  soluble  powers  of 
water,  which  is  taken  up  by  the  roots,  and  by  mechanical 
forces  carried  over  every  part,  carbonic  acid,  carbonates 
and  organic  matters  containing  carbon.  Evaporation  is  con- 
tinually going  on,  and  this  water  escapes  freely  from  the  leaves 
during  the  night  when  the  functions  of  the  vegetable,  like 
those  of  the  animal  world,  are  at  rest,  and  carries  with  it  car- 
bonic acid.  Water  and  carbonic  acid  are  sucked  up  by  ca- 


18 

pillary  attraction,  and  both  evaporate  from  the  exterir  part  of 
fhe  leaves." 

"  There  is  no  reversion  of  the  processes  which  are  necessary 
to  support  the  life  of  a  plant.  The  same  functions  are  ope- 
rating in  the  same  way  by  day  and  by  night,  but  differing 
greatly  in  degree.  During  the  hours  of  sunshine  the  whole 
of  the  carbonic  acid  absorbed  by  the  leaves  or  taken  up  with 
water  by  the  roots  is  decomposed,  all  the  functions  of  the 
plant  are  excited,  the  processes  of  inhalation  and  exhalation 
are  quickened,  and  the  plant  pours  out  to  the  atmosphere 
streams  of  pure  oxygen  at  the  same  time  as  it  removes  a  large 
quantity  of  deleterious  carbonic  acid  from  it.  In  the  shade 
the  exciting  power  being  lessened,  these  operations  arc  slower, 
and  in  the  dark  they  are  very  nearly,  but  certainly  not  quite, 
suspended." 

"Although  a  blue  glass  or  fluid  may  appear  to  absorb  all 
the  rays  except  the  most  refrangible  ones,  which  have  usually 
been  considered  as  the  least  calorific  of  the  solar  rays;  yet  it  is 
certain  that  some  principle,  has  permeated  the  glass  or  fluid  which 
has  a  very  decided  and  thermic  influence.  Numerous  experi- 
ments have  been  tried  with  the  seeds  of  mignonette,  many 
varieties  of  the  flowering  pea,  the  common  parsley,  and  cresses' 
under  the  various  tints  of  glass  —  with  all  of  them  the  seeds 
have  germinated,  but  except  under  the  blue  glass  these  plants 
have  all  been  marked  by  the  extraordinary  length  to  which 
the  stems  of  the  cotyledons  have  grown,  and  by  the  entire  ab- 
sence of  t/'C  primula  —  no  true  leaves  forming,  the  cotyledons 
soon  perish  and  the  plant  dies;  uinlcr  the  blue  glass  alone  has 
the  process  gone  on  healthfully  to  the  end." 

"The  changes  whi'-h  take  place  in  the  seed  during  the  pro- 
of germination    have   been   investigated    by    Saussure  : 
consumed  and  carbonic  arid  is  evolved  ;  and  the 
volume  of  the  latter  is  exactly  equal  to  the  volume  of  the 
former.     The  grain  weighs  less  after  germination  than  it  did 
•lie  loss  of  weight  varying  from  one-third  to  one-fifth. 
This  loss  of  course  depends  on  the  combination  of  its  carbon 
with  the  oxygen  absorbed,  which  is  evolved  as  carbonic  acid." 
"K"r   the    di-eovery  that    oxygen   gas   is   exhaled  from  the 
plants   during   the   daytime.  \ve  are  indebted   to  Dr. 
tley;   and   Seiinebier   first   pointed  out  that  carbonic  acid 
,'iired   for  the  d  ment  of  the  oxygen  in  this  pro- 

M.  Theodore  <!  ire  and  De  Candolle  fully  estab- 

this  fart." 


The  experiments  of  Seunebier  show  that  the  most  refrangi- 


19 

ble  of  the  solar  rays,  viz.,  the  violet,  are  the  most  active  in  deter- 
mining the  decomposition  of  carbonic  acid  by  plants. 

"  We  have  now  certain  knowledge.  We  know  that  all  the 
carbon  which  forms  the  masses  of  the  magnificent  trees  of  the 
forests  and  of  the  herbs  of  the  fields  has  been  supplied  from 
the  atmosphere,  to  which  it  has  been  given  by  the  functions 
of  animal  life  and  the  necessities  of  animal  existence.  Man 
and  the  whole  of  the  animal  kingdom  require  and  take  from 
the  atmosphere  its  oxygen  for  their  support.  It  is  this  which 
maintains  the  spark  of  life,  and  the  product  of  this  combustion 
is  carbonic  acid,  which  is  thrown  off  as  waste  material,  and 
which  deteriorates  the  air.  The  vegetable  kingdom,  however, 
drinks  this  noxious  vapor ;  it  appropriates  one  of  the  elements 
of  this  gas — carbon — and  the  other — oxygen — is  liberated 
again  to  perform  its  services  to  the  animal  world." 

"  The  animal  kingdom  is  constantly  producing  carbonic 
acid,  water  in  the  state  of  vapor,  nitrogen,  and  in  combination 
with  hydrogen,  ammonia.  The  vegetable  kingdom  contin- 
ually consumes  ammonia,  nitrogen,  water,  and  carbonic  acid. 
The  one  is  constantly  pouring  into  the  air  what  the  other  is 
as  constantly  drawing  from  it,  and  thus  is  the  equilibrium  of 
the  elements  maintained." 

"Beccaria  examined  the  solar  phosphor!,  and  ascertained 
that  the  violet  ray  was  the  most  energetic,  and  the  red  ray  the 
least  so,  in  exciting  phosphorescence  in  certain  bodies." 

"M.  Biot  and  the  elder  Becquerel  have  proved  that  the 
slightest  electrical  disturbance  is  sufficient  to  produce  these 
phosphorescent  effects.  May  we  not  therefore  regard  the 
action  of  the  most  refrangible  rays,  viz.,  the  violet,  as  analo- 
gous to  that  of  the  electric  disturbance  ?  May  not  electricity 
itself  be  but  a  development  of  this  mysterious  solar  emana- 
tion ? " 

It  has  been  long  known  to  chemists  that  a  mixture  of  chlo- 
rine and-  hydrogen  gases  might  be  preserved  in  darkness 
without  combining  for  some  time,  but  that  exposure  to  diffused 
day  light  gradually  occasioned  their  combination,  and  which 
is  effected  with  the  greatest  speed  by  the  extreme  blue  and  indigo 
rays.  M.  Edrnond  Becquerel  in  1839  first  called  attention  to 
the  "  electricity  developed  during  the  chemical  action  excited 
by  solar  agency." 

The  experiments  of  Dr.  Morichini,  repeated  by  MM.  Carpa 
and  Ridolti,  that  violet  rays  magnetized  a  small  needle,  were 
successfully  confirmed  by  Mrs.  Somerville. 


20 

"Light  is  not  solely  a  radiant  visible  element  It  has  other 
properties  which  cannot  be  overlooked.  It  oxidizes,  colors, 
bleaches.  Light  becomes  absorbed — light  changes  into  heat, 
and  heat  into  electricity;  in  i'act,  light  in  its  radiant  visible 
character  only  shows  one  of  its  many  phases.  Light  holds 
many  forces  within  its  beams.  It  has  properties,  powers  of  its 
own,  which  neither  mathematician  nor  optician  can  grasp.  Jt 
jreat  chemical  agent.  Colors  are  produced  by  a  change 
resulting  from  a  polaric  act  of  arrestation — yellow  and  red 
yellow  belong  to  the  acids;  blue  and  red  blue  to  the  alkalies. 
The  undulatory  theory  explains  the  radiant  visible  property 
of  light,  but  it  does  not  explain  its  chemical  effects,  the  opti- 
cal polarity  of  a  chrystal  and  its  connection  with  the  polaric 
condition  of  its  constituents — the  diffraction,  inflection,  inter- 
ferences, the  oxidation  of  surfaces  as  the  cause  of  natural  co- 
lors, the  presence  of  the  chemical  action  of  light,  the  presence 
of  heat,  electricity,  magnetism  ;  yet  light  produces  all  these 
phenomena ;  it  vitalizes,  and  the  organic  action  of  light  is 
witnessed  in  the  fauna  and  flora  around." 

We  have  seen  that  blue  light,  and  the  violet  ray  which  is  a 
compound  of  it,  and  the  red  ray — being  the  most  refrangible 
•  f  the  solar  spectrum — excite  magnetism, — and  electricity, 
by  which  carbonic  acid  gas  evaporated  from  growing  plants 
is  decomposed  and  oxygen  thereof  liberated  to  be  absorbed 
again  in  maturing  the  flowers,  fruit  and  seed  of  the  plant,  thus 
stimulating  the  active  energies  of  the  plant  into  its  fullest  and 
most  complete  development.  Now  this  is  just  what  I  think  is 
done  in  the  vegetable  world  by  the  blue  light  of  the  firmanent. 
That  blue  light  of  the  lirmanent,  it'  not  itself  electro-magne- 
t'lMn.  -e  forces  which  compose  it  in  our  atmosphere, 

and  applying  them  at  the  season,  vi/.,  the  early  spring,  when 
-ky  is  bluest,  stimulates,  after  the  torpor  of  winter,  the 
activ  "S  of  the  vegetable   kingdom,  by  the  decomposi- 

tion of  its  carboni-   aeid  ga< — supplying  carbon  for  the  plants 
to  mature  it.  and  to  complete  its  mission. 

In  the  experiment  which  I  have  made  in  the  cultivation  of 

grapes  under  violet  light,  I  have  endeavored  to  combine  with 

it  the  blue  light  of  the  lirmanent,  causing  the  other  rays  of  the 

solar  spectrum  to  be  ab-orbod  while  the  blue  and  violet  rays 

permit1  'lie  violet  glass   into  the  grapery. 

The  .[M-rature  under  the  white  glass  and  under 

the  violet  glass  of  the  grapery   is  supposed  to  have  excited 

curr-  :i<-ient  to  decompose  more  rapidly  the 

>nic  acid  gas   that  had  been  evaporated  from  the  leaves  of 

the  vines,  than  would  have  been  done  under  the  influence  of 


21 

the  sunshine  alone — thus  stimulating  the  increased  absorption 
of  oxygen,  and  the  deposit  of  carbon  in  the  vines,  and  con- 
stantly and  quickly  renewing  the  evaporation  of  carbonic  acid 
gas.  The  result  has  been  seen  in  the  wonderfully  large  pro- 
duct of  fruit,  accompanied  by  a  prodigious  formation  of  new 
wood,  to  yield  the  crop  of  fruit  for  the  ensuing  year. 

The  investigations  that  have  been  made  during  the  present 
century  regarding  light  have  developed  the  existence  of  some 
remarkable  attributes;  one  of  the  most  astonishing  is  the  dis- 
covery that  there  is  no  heat  per  se  in  the  sun's  ray,  though  it 
is  one  of  the  causes  which  produce  heat.  This  is  established 
beyond  dispute  by  the  existence  of  the  intense  cold  which  pre- 
vails in  the  upper  atmosphere,  increasing  with  its  altitude,  and 
through  which  all  the  sunlight  which  reaches  the  earth  must 
pass,  but  whose  temperature  it  cannot  alter.  Hence  you  have 
at  the  present  time  the  line  of  perpetual  snow,  according  to 
Professor  Agassiz,  at  an  elevation  of  15,000  feet  at  the  equator, 
of  6,000  feet  at  the  latitude  of  45°,  and  gradually  approaching 
the  surface  of  the  earth  till  it  reaches  it  at  60°  of  north  lati- 
tude, beyond  which  ice  prevails  nearly  to  the  pole. 

Aeronauts  have  remarked  also  at  great  altitudes  above  the 
earth  that  the  thermometer  had  ceased  to  mark  any  variation 
of  temperature  when  exposed  in  the  full  sunshine  or  in  shadow. 

A  curious  illustration  of  the  fact  that  something  more  is 
needed  than  sunlight  to  produce  heat  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
stated  by  the  famous  arctic  navigator,  Dr.  Scoresby,  as  well  as 
by  others,  that  when,  after  a  long  night  in  the  arctic  regions, 
the  sun  had  appeared,  though  the  thermometer  was  below  32° 
of  Fahrenheit,  and  everything  around  was  frozen  hard,  he 
observed  that  the  pitch  with  which  the  seams  of  the  planks  of 
the  ship  had  been  payed,  on  the  side  of  the  ship  exposed  to 
the  sun,  was  melted,  notwithstanding  the  great  declination  of 
the  sun  and  the  small  angle  of  incidence,  that  the  nearly  hori- 
zontal rays  of  it  made  as  they  fell  upon  the  pitch,  while  that 
in  the  shade  on  the  other  side  of  the  ship  was  so  hard  that  it 
was  with  difficulty  broken  with  a  hatchet — other  objects  on  the 
ship  manifesting  at  the  same  time  the  low  temperature  marked 
by  the  thermometer.  I  am  not  aware  that  any  explanation  of 
this  phenomenon  has  ever  been  attempted.  I  may,  therefore, 
offer  to  v-icrgest  that  the  pitch  being  an  electric  or  non-con- 
ductor or  electricity  and  negatively  electrified  when  the  sun's 
ray  positively  electrified  fell  upon  it,  an  explosion  took  place, 
heat  was  evolved,  and  the  pitch  was  melted — thus  proving  that 


22 

heat  from  sunshine  is  produced  by  the  contact  of  an  electricity 
opposed  to  that  of  the  sun's  rays. 

As  a  corollary  from  what  has  just  been  stated,  it  may  be 
observed  that  the  heat  of  the  equatorial  and  tropical  oceans  is 
not  derived  from  the  sun.  We  do  not  heat  our  houses  by 
kindling  fires  at  the  tops  of  our  chimneys  or  boil  our  water 
from  above,  but  rather  we  descend  into  our  cellars,  and  make 
our  fires  for  that  purpose  in  the  furnaces  constructed  there. 
Besides,  we  know  that  from  the  surface  of  the  water,  if  at  rest, 
and  from  its  many  surfaces,  if  agitated  by  winds,  the  rays  of 
the  sun  would  be  reflected  in  all  possible  angles  corresponding 
to  the  angles  of  incidence  of  the  rays  themselves,  and  the  heat 
would  be  lost  in  space.  Whence  comes,  then,  this  ocean  heat 
in  the  tropics,  finding  its  vent  in  the  arctic  and  antarctic 
regions  through  the  Gulf  Stream  of  the  Atlantic,  and  the 
Japan.  Stream  laving  the  shores  of  northeastern  Asia,  and  tho 
south-eastern  current  running  along  the  south-western  coast 
of  South  America  to  the  Antartic  seas  ?  Does  it  not  come  by 
radiation  from  the  interior  of  the  earth  from  those  great  fires 
which,  by  the  elastic  gases  and  vapors  engendered  there,  in 
many  parts  of  the  world  upheave  mountains  and  islands,  and 
forming  chimneys  for  themselves  in  their  summits,  belch  out 
that  superfluous  heat,  light,  electricity,  and  magnetism  which 
radiation  to  the  surface  of  the  earth  at  times  is  inadequate  to 
discharge?  And  are  not  these  great  ocean  currents  of  heated 
water  merely  channels  or  flues  of  radiation  of  heat  from  be- 
neath, by  which,  for  climatic  purposes,  the  Omnipotent  Creator 
levised  the  means  of  distributing  this  interior  heat  over 
the  surface  of  our  planet  ? 

All  admit  the  existence  of  those  great  forces  of  nature  in 
the  interior  of  the  earth,  manifested  through  volcanic  action 
in  those  imponderable  elements  of  heat,  light,  electricity,  and 
'•tism.  Why  are  those  forces  there?  May  they  not  be 
the  forces  which  turn  the  earth  on  its  axis,  and  aid  in  propel- 
ling it  around  the  sun?  May  not  the  frigid  zones  north  and 
south  furnish  the  cold  cushions  of  water  in  the  extreme  depths 
of  the  ocean,  of  the  uniform  temperature  of  39£°  of  Fahren- 
heit, and  of  nearly  th>  a1  density  known  to  "that  element, 
for  the  purpo-e  of  restraining  and  controlling  the  radiation  of 
that  great  interior  heat  of  the  earth,  which  otherwise  might 
be  wasted ': 

Dr.  Winslow,  in  his  treatise  on  light,  its  influence  on  life 
and  health,  says :  "  Accurate  calculations  have  been  made  as  to 
the  temperature  of  the  ocean.  The  results  obtained  clearly 
establish  that  the  lowest  degrees  of  temperature  are  obtainable 


23 

on  the  surface  of  the  water;  and  that  about  ten  feet  below  the 
surface  the  thermometer  rises  several  degrees, — 90°  is  said  by 
Mr.  Agassi/;  (son  of  Professor  Agassiz,)  to  be  the  highest  tem- 
perature he  has  known  the  ocean  to  attain;  at  very  great 
depths  of  the  ocean  a  uniform  temperature  of  about  39^°  has 
been  found." 

The  low  temperature  of  the  surface  water  of  the  ocean  is 
attributable  to  the  evaporation  which  is  constantly  going  on, 
carrying  off  the  atmospheric  heat  adjacent,  and  proving  con- 
clusively that  the  Gulf  and  other  warm  ocean  currents  do  not 
derive  their  heat  from  the  sun. 

These  reflections  have  forced  themselves  upon  me,  while 
pgndering  over  some  of  the  great  revelations  of  nature. 

In  a  recent  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Agricultural  Bu- 
reau at  Washington,  he  states — "  On  the  15th  of  June  the  sun 
is  more  than  23°  north  of  the  equator,  and  therefore  it  might 
be  inferred  that  the  intensity  of  heat  should  be  greater  at  this 
latitude  than  at  the  equator;  but  that  it  should  continue  to 
increase  beyond  this  even  to  the  pole,  may  not  at  first  sight  appear 
so  clear.  It  will,  however,  be  understood  when  it  is  recol- 
lected that  though  in  a  northern  latitude  the  obliquity  of  the 
ray  is  greater,  and  on  this  account  the  intensity  should  bo  less, 
yet  the  longer  duration  of  the  day  is  more  than  sufficient  to 
compensate  for  this  effect  and  produce  the  result  exhibited." 

It  strikes  me  that  this  explanation  is  not  sound.  I  remem- 
ber several  years  ago,  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  afternoon  of  a 
day  in  August,  when  the  thermometer  was  at  94°,  that  in  fif- 
teen minutes  the  thermometer  fell  40°,  which  was  owing  no 
doubt  to  a  descending  column  of  cold  air  from  the  upper  at- 
mosphere, attracted  by  some  local  electrical  disturbance.  The 
continuous  heat  of  the  preceding  summer  months  could  no 
more  prevent  this  thermal  change  at  Philadelphia  than  could 
the  long  day  with  the  oblique  sun's  rays  increase  the  intensity 
of  the  heat  in  high  northern  latitudes. 

Professor  Maury  says — "The  summer  temperature  as  ob- 
served on  the  very  borders  of  the  Polar  ocean  is  absolutely 
marvelous.  Observations  made  with  a  view  of  determining 
this  accurately  have  for  some  years  been  taken  in  Alaska. 
One  of  the  observers  in  the  northern  district  of  Yukon  states 
in  the  '  Agricultural  Report'  for  18G8,  '  I  have  seen  the  ther- 
mometer at  noon  at  Fort  Yukon,  not  in  the  direct  rays  of  the 
sun,  standing  at  112°  ;  and  I  am  informed  by  the  commander 
of  the  post  that  several  spirit  thermometers  graduated  to  120° 
had  burst  under  the  scorching  sun  of  the  arctic  midsummer, 
which  can  only  be  appreciated  by  one  who  has  endured  it.  In 


24 

midsummer,  on  the  Upper  Yukon,  the  only  relief  from  the 
intense  heat  under  which  vegetation  attains  an  almost  tropical 
luxuriance,  is  the  two  or  three  hours  during  which  the  sun 
hovers  near  the  northern  horizon,  and  the  weary  voyager  in 
his  canoe  blesses  the  transient  coolness  of  the  midnight  air.' ' 

According  to  M.  de  Humboldt,  the  sky  is  bluer  between  the 
tropics  than  in  the  higher  temperate  latitudes,  but  paler  at  sea 
than  in  the  interior  of  countries  ;  the  blue  is  less  intense  at 
the  horizon  than  at  the  zenith.  The  early  maturity  of  human 
life  in  the  tropics  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  stimulating  influ- 
ence of  the  enormous  quantities  of  electricity,  which,  continu- 
ally passing  by  day  as  well  as  by  night  in  the  auroras  from  the 
poles  to  the  equator,  and  descending  to  the  earth  in  those  re- 
gions, in  those  dazzling  sheets  of  lightning  flame,  so  terrifying 
to  all  who  have  witnessed  them,  and  conducted  by  the  inces- 
sant rains  prevailing  there  in  certain  seasons  of  the  year — de- 
oxygenate  the  enormous  volumes  of  carbonic  acid  gas  gene- 
1  by  the  exuberant  vegetation,  as  well  in  its  growth  as  in 
its  decay,  thus  supplying  excessive  quantities  of  oxygen  gas  to 
stimulate  and  support  the  animal  life,  as  well  as  carbon  to  the 
fresh  vegetation  which  is  being  continually  renewed — the  cir- 
cle of  development  and  decay  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  being 
thus  always  preserved. 

We  Lave  thus  seen  that  the  magnetic,  electric,  and  thermic 
powers  of  the  Sun's  ray  reside  in  the  violet  ray,  which  is  a 
compound  of  tho  blue  and  red  rays.  These  constitute  what  are 
•  1  the  chemical  powers  of  the  sunlight.  That  they  are 
the  most  important  powers  of  nature,  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
•hout  them  life  cannot  exist  on  tliis  planet.  Without  these 
chemical  powers  there  could  be  no  vegetation.  Without  veg- 
etation there  could  be  no  insect  lite,  and  no  development  of 
the  higher  order  of  animal  existence.  The  earth  Avould  be 
without  form  and  void,  and  we  can  now  understand  the  poten- 
tial meaning  of  the  first  sublime  utterance  of  the  Almighty  in 
forming  this  earth,  when  he  said  "Let  there  be  Light,"  and 
-  Light. 

>regoing  premises  we  deduce  the  following  con- 

1.   Heat  is  developed  by  opposite  electricities  in  coujunction 
11  proportion  to  the  quantity  and  intensity  of  those  elec- 
tricities in  contact  with  each  other,  will  be  the  intensity  of  the 

blue  color  of  the  sky,  for  one  of  its  functions,  de- 

•••3  carbonic  acid  !'l''vi"if  carbon  to  vegetation 

and  sustaining  both  vegetable  and  animal  life  with  its  oxygen. 


APPENDIX. 


UNITED  STATES  PATENT  OFFICE.  119,242. 

AUGUSTUS  J.  PLEASONTON,  OP  PHILADELPHIA,  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Improvement  in  Accelerating  the  Growth  of  Plants  and  Animals. 
Specifications  forming  part  of  Letters  Patent  No.  119$4%y 
dated  September  26,  1871. 

To  all  whom  it  may  concern  : 

Be  it  known  that  I,  Augustus  J.  Pleasonton,  of  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  have  discovered  a  new 
and  valuable  aid  and  improvement  in  accelerating  the  growth  to 
maturity  of  plants,  vines,  vegetables,  cereals,  and  the  flora  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom  of  nature,  and  of  animals.,  fowls,  fishes  and 
birds  of  the  animal  kingdom  of  nature ;  and  that  I  do  hereby 
declare  the  following  to  be  a  full,  clear,  and  exact  description  of 
the  operation  of  the  same  by  means  of  combining  the  natural 
light  of  the  sun  transmitted  through  transparent  glass  with  the 
natural  light  of  the  sun  transmitted  through  blue  glass  or  any  of 
the  varieties  of  blue,  as  indigo  or  violet,  in  varied  proportions  of 
blue  and  white  glass,  from  one  of  blue  to  eight  of  white,  up  to 
equal  proportions  of  blue  and  white,  as  greater  or  less  caloric  is 
needed,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  plants  or  animals,  to 
accelerate  their  natural  growth,  increase  their  vitality,  and  hasten 
maturity  ;  reference  being  also  made  to  the  accompanying  drawing 
making  a  part  of  this  specification,  in  which  the  figure  represents 
one  form  of  construction  of  a  conservatory  or  grapery,  in  which 
A  A  A  represent  the  clear  or  transparent  glass,  and  B  the  blue 
or  coloured  glass.  Proper  ventilation  is  effected  by  means  of  wire 
cloth  placed  in  the  walls,  as  shown  at  C,  and  which  can  be  opened 
and  closed  at  pleasure  by  means  of  hinged  glazed  sashes,  as  shown 
at  D.  There  is  also  represented  at  E  a  hinged  sash,  glazed  with 
both  clear  and  blue  glass,  for  changing  the  angle  of  incidence  to 
agree  with  the  declination  of  the  sun.  These  proportions  of  the 
natural  light  of  the  sun  with  the  blue  or  electric  transmitted  rays 


26 

may  be  varied  to  conform  to  the  specific  constitution  of  tho 
varieties  oflifo  in  tho  vegetable  world  and  the  varieties  of  consti- 
tution in  the  animal  wcrld.  and  can  only  ho  ascertained  throughout 
l)i, tli  kingdoms  by  progressive  and  continued  experiment.  Tho 
proportions  of  the  heating  rays  and  the  transmitted  blue  electric 
ravs  must  bo  varied  to  conform  to  tho  constitutional  vitality  of 
able  or  animal,  and  care  must  bo  had  that  tho  heating  or 
caloric  light  is  not  in  excess  of  the  electric  or  vitalizing  and 
growing  tran-. mil  ted  blue  light. 

I  routine  myself  to  no  particular  form,  externally  or  internally, 
of  tho  buildings  to  bo  used,  whether  they  apply  to  tho  growth  and 
propagation  of  plants,  vegetables,  fruits,  &c.,  or  to  the  growth 
propagation,  £c.,  of  animals,  fishes  and  fowls;  but  the  best  form  is 
that  building  which  will  receive  tho  rays  of  tho  sun  during  its  daily 
revolution  as  nearly  perpendicular  as  practicable  to  the  surfaces 
of  the  glass  covering,  so  that  tho  rays  shall  bo  as  little  deflected  as 
ble,  and  the  tiers  or  rows  of  blue  gbss,  violet  or  other  degrees 
of  blue,  shall  be  continuous  over  tho  ontiro  portion  of  tho  building 
on  which  the  sun  shines,  imparting  in  this  way  to  every  portion 
of  tho  interior  uniformly  throughout  the  day  the  caloric  and 
electric  rays  in  the  proportions  of  white  and  blue  glass  in  their 
alternations.  Sucn  structures  should  bo  built  on  curves,  conform- 
ing to  the  curve  in  which  tho  sun  moves  in  its  daily  revolution, 
and  tho  alternating  rows  of  white  and  blue  glass  should  extend 
over  the  portions  on  which  tho  sun  shines,  so  that  in  the  course  of 
tho  day  plants  and  vegetables,  wherever  they  grow  under  tho 
glass,  will  all  have  the  same  exposure  to  tho  caloric  and  electric 
transmitted  light.  Variations  from  these  forms  of  buildings,  and 
variations  in  tho  proportion  of  tho  natural  caloric  and  bluo 
electric  light  will,  in  degree,  accelerate  tho  growth  and  maturity 
of  plants  and  animals  depending  upon  their  constitution  and 
vitality;  and  tho  samo  proportions  that  hasten  growth  in  tho 
table  kingdom  are  not  tho  best  for  many  animals  of  tho 
animal  kiiy^dom.  Kxperienco  alone  can  determine  tho  best  pro- 
Mis  of  natural  and  blue  light,  depending  on  tho  constitution 
of  the  animal  and  the  nature  of  plants.  In  extreme  northern 
latitudes  the  form  given  to  the  glass  buil  lings  BO  as  to  take  tho 
Run'.-  -pendicularly  to  the  surfaces  during  tho  day  would 

vary  from  tho  form  that  should   ho  given  in  southern  latitudes  to 
same  purpo-e.     Therefore  no  one  general  plan  for  tho 
•ruction  of  conservatories,  graperies,  houses  for  animals,  &c., 
be  adopted  i,r  dr>rril)ed   b.-yond  tho  rule  for  tho   builders   to 
>rm  tho  whapo  of  the   gla>s   portions  HO   as   to  present   their 
Around  liis   building  in  form  to  take  tho  sun's  rays  us 
nearly  perpendicularly  as  practicable,  so  as  to  avoid  their  deflec- 
tion.    All  persons  skilled  in   building  will  readily  understand  this 
principle.  ;i-id  I. ••  enable  1  to  rnako  us  •  of  the  discovery  and  apply 
it  to  practical  use,  in  whatever  place  ho  may  live,  extreme  north 


27 

or  extreme  south,  within  the  limits  of  the  sun's  rising  and  setting. 
I  prefer,  as  a  transmitting  medium  for  the  electric  rays  of  the 
Bun,  blue  glass,  violet  and  indigo;  but  I  do  not  confine  myself  to 
the  use  of  glass,  as  the  sun's  transmitted  rays  convey  these  colors 
through  other  media,  producing  in  degree  the  same  results. 

In  buildings  for  the  treatment  of  invalids,  whether  they  be  men 
or  animals,  no  particular  form  or  construction  of  hospital,  house  or 
stable  will  be  necessary,  as  the  beds  of  invalid  men  and  the  places 
for  animals  can  be  so  changed  that  the  order  of  the  means  for 
transmitting  the  blue  light  may  be  very  variable.  The  propor- 
tion of  electric  blue  light  and  the  natural  light,  however,  should 
be  constant,  or  as  nearly  so  as  practicable,  after  the  proportions 
are  ascertained  by  experience  that  prove  most  beneficial  in  their 
healing  process. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  be  the  first  discoverer  of  the  vitalizing  and  life- 
growing  qualities  of  the  transmitted  blue  light  of  the  solar  rays, 
and  its  effect  in  quickening  life  and  intensifying  vitality. 

I  have  found,  upon  patient  and  long  experiments,  running 
through  many  years,  that  plants,  fruits  of  plants,  vines  and  fruits 
of  vines  and  vegetables  BO  housed  and  inclosed  as  to  admit  the 
natural  light  of  the  sun  through  ordinary  glass,  and  the  trans- 
mitted light  of  the  solar  rays  through  the  glasses  of  blue,  violet  or 
purple  colours  in  the  proportion  of  eight  ot  natural  light  to  one  of 
the  blue  or  electric  light,  grow  much  more  rapidly,  ripen  much 
quicker,  and  produce  much  larger  crops  of  fruit  than  the  same 
plants  housed  and  treated  with  the  natural  light  of  day,  the  soils 
and  fertilizers  and  treatment  »nd  culture  being  identical  in  both 
cases  and  the  exposure  the  same. 

I  have  also  found,  by  repeated  and  patient  experiments  of  several 
years,  that  young  animals,  fishes  and  fowls  under  the  same  care, 
food,  regimen,  and  treatment  grow  much  more  rapidly  and  to  a 
much  larger  size  under  the  influence  of  the  combined  natural  light 
of  day  with  the  transmitted  blue  electric  light  than  when  exposed 
only  to  the  natural  sunlight,  and'that  their  flesh  is  equally  good,  and 
their  health,  vigor  and  constitutions  are  equal  to  those  that,  under  the 
same  circumstances  of  food,  care  and  shelter,  grow  in  the  natural 
light.  In  these  experiments  with  animals,  fishes  and  fowls,  I  have 
not  used  the  same  proportions  of  natural  light  and  transmitted 
blue  light,  viz:  eight  of  natural  to  ono  of  blue  light,  that  I  used  in 
my  experiments  with  vines,  vegetables  and  fruits,  but  with  the 
first  named  the  proportions  of  natural  and  blue  light  were  equal ; 
and  I  prefer  not  those  proportions  of  the  natural  caloric  light  and 
the  transmitted  electric  light;  yet  I  do  not  doubt  that  other  pro- 
portions, depending  upon  the  different  organic  constitutions  in 
both  the  animal  ami  vegetable  creations,  may  be  found  to  combine 
life-growing  and  vitalizing  powers  even  exceeding  the  results  I 
have  produced,  and  still  more  productive  of  good  in  creating 
greater  results.  In  these  experiments  I  have  discovered  and 


28 

proved  that  the  transmitted  blue  light  of  the  solar  rays  in  its 
different  degrees  of  intensity  of  color,  in  combination  with  natural 
sunlight,  imparts  vigour  and  vitality  to  the  vegetation  and  life- 
gro\ving  principle  in  nature,  heretofore  unknown  and  never  before 
utilized  and  applied  to  practical  results  of  incalculable  value  to 
stock  growing,  to  agriculture  and  horticulture,  both  as  relates  to 
time,  labor  and  economy. 

1  have  also  discovered,  by  experiment  and  practice,  special  and 
Kpecitic  efficacy  in  the  use  of  this  combination  of  the  caloric  ra}-s 
of  the  sun  and  the  electric  blue  light  in  stimulating  the  glands  of 
the  liody,  the  nervous  system  generally,  and  the  secretive  organs 
of  man  and  animals.  It  therefore  becomes  an  important  clement 
in  the  treatment  of  diseases,  especially  such  as  have  become 
chronic,  or  result  from  derangement  of  the  secretive,  perspiratory 
or  glandular  functions,  as  it  vitalizes  and  gives  renewed  activity 
and  force  to  the  vital  currents  that  keep  the  health  unimpaired,  or 
restores  them  when  disordered  or  deranged. 

Having  thus  fully  described  my  discovery  and  invention,  what  I 
claim,  and  desire  to  have  secured  to  me  by  Letter  Patent,  is 

1.  Tho  method  herein  described  for  utilizing  the  natural  light  of 
the  sun  transmitted  through  clear  glass,  and  the  blue  or  electric 
solar  rays  transmitted  through  blue,  purple  or  violet  coloured 
glass,  or  its  equivalent,  in  the  propagation  and  growth  of  plants 
and  animals,  substantially  as  herein  set  forth. 

-  The  herein  described  construction  of  conservatories  and  other 
buildings,  when  the  roof,  walls  or  parts  thereof  are  covered  with 
alternating  portions  of  clear  and  blue,  purple,  or  violet  glass  or 
equivalents,  as  and  for  the  purposes  set  forth. 

In  testimoncy  that  I  claim  the  above,  I  have  hereunto  sub- 
scribed my  name  in  the  presence  of  two  witnesses  at  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  the  23d  day  of  June,  A.  D.  1871. 

AUGUSTUS  J.  PLEASONTON. 
Witnesses : 

II.    Tt'MSON, 

H.  A.  NAQLE. 


[II.] 

In  the  winter  of  the  year  1872,  I  called  at  the  Pennsylvania 

tul,  on  1'ine  street,  between  Highth  and  .Ninth  streets,  in  this 

city,  to  suggest  to  its  officers  the  introduction  of  my  plan  of  using 

the  associated  light,  of  the  sun   and  the   blue  colour  of  the  sky  in 

alh-viating  the  sufferings  of,  and  probably  in  restoring  to  health 

many  of  their  patients.      On  being  presented   to  them,  one  of  the 

icians,  on  hearing  my  name  mentioned,  asked  mo  if 

-  the  author  of  the  experiments  with  blue  light  of  which  ho 

hac"  read  r  n  account.     On  receiving  my  answer,  ho  said ;  "  I  have 


29 

something  curious  to  tell  you.  I  am  a  native  of  Brazil,  where  my 
father  still  resides ;  I  have  been  educated  in  the  United  States; 
last,  week  I  received  a  package  of  hooks,  pamphlets,  &c.,  from  my 
father,  in  Bra/il,  who  had  ordered  them  from  Paris.  In  his  ac- 
companying letter  my  father  directed  my  particular  attention  to 
a  French  pamphlet  which  detailed  some  remarkable  experiments 
on  animal  and  vegetable  life,  that  had  been  made  with  blue  glass 
and  sunlight,  that  ho  thought  would  be  useful  to  me  iu  my  medical 
profession.  On  examining  the  pamphlet  I  discovered  it  to  be  a 
translation  in  the  French  language  of  your  memoir  on  that  subject. 
The  translator,  however,  had  not  mentioned  your  name  in  it,  in- 
even  the  name  of  the  locality  where  the  experiments  had  been 
made.  It  evidently  was  intended  to  convey  the  impression  that 
the  experiments  had  been  made  in  Paris." 

If  tho  translator  was  a  Frenchman  we  can  pardon  him  for 
omitting  the  name  of  the  author,  in  memory  of  the  ancient  Revo- 
lutionary alliance  between  his  nation  and  our  own.  We  can  even 
condone  his  fault,  smarting  as  he  must  have  been  under  the  then 
recent  loss  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine — but  we  think  that  it  might 
have  occurred  to  him  that  the  scene  of  my  experiments  was  also 
the  locality  of  the  electrical  experiments  of  Franklin,  whom  his 
countrymen  and  women  always  delighted  to  honor,  and  hence  the 
name  of  Franklin's  home  might  have  been  associated  with  the 
announcement  of  discoveries  in  physics  that  do  no  discredit  even 
to  those  of  Franklin  himself. 


[III.] 

THE  DIAMOND  ;  ITS  ORIGIN. — In  former  editions  of  this  memoir 
I  have  attributed  the  origin  of  the  diamond  to  electricity  in  the 
upper  atmosphere  decomposing  carbonic  acid  gas,  fusing  the  car- 
bon, converting  the  oxygen  gas  into  ozone,  and  crystalizing  the 
fused  carbon,  under  the  great  evaporating  power  of  the  intense 
cold  there  prevailing.  The  Atheneum  says:  "  A  somewhat  nove  1 
idea  is  stated  by  M.  Desdemaines  Hugon,  in  a  paper  '  On  tho 
Diamond  Diggings  of  South  Africa/  which  is  printed  in  the  Revue 
Scientifiquede  la  France  et  1J Etranger.  He  states  that  the  air  is  always 
highly  electric  where  diamonds  abound,  and  he  intimates  his 
opinion  that  this  may  throw  some  light  on  the  formation  of  that 
gem." 


30 

[IV.] 
[From  the  President  of  the  Indiana  University.'] 

INDIANA  UNIVERSITY,         1 
BLOOMINGTON,  June  15,  1871.    } 
GEN.  PLEAKONTON. 

DKAR  SIR: — I  received  a  few  days  ago  a  pamphlet  containing 
an  account  of  your  interesting  experiments  on  the  influence  of  the 
blue  ray  in  developing  animal  and  vegetable  life.  If  the  experi- 
ments, where  it  so  difficult  to  determine  the  amount  of  influence 
due  to  the  light,  compared  with  that  due  to  other  circumstances, 
have  been  fairly  made,  as  doubtless  they  have  been,  you  have 
opened  up  a  new  field  of  great  practical  usefulness  to  all  the  world. 
Thanking  you  for  your  kindness  in  sending  mo  your  treatise,  I 
remain, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

T.  A.  WYLIE, 


[V-] 
[From  the  President  of  the  Lehigh  University.'] 

THE  LEHIQII  UNIVERSITY,  ) 

Sorm   BETFT.EHEM,  PA.,  PRESIDENT'S  ROOMS,  July  10,  1871.  ) 
MY  BEAR  GENERAL: 

I  have  just  received  and  at  once  read  your  very  interesting 
paper  <>n  ci-iU-t  rays,  &c. 

The  tacts  are  astonishing,  and  your  explanation  evinces  care, 
judgment  and  research. 

I  shall  take  pleasure  in  putting  it  among  our  scientific   papers, 
and  thank  you  for  sending  it. 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

flENRY  COPP^E. 
GEN'U  I'LEASONTON. 


[VI.] 

[From  thr  Hon.    Wm.  M.  Men-dith,  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
of  the  United  States."] 

M  v    I ) EAR    I'1  N  : 

I  have  delayed   thanking  you    tor   the    pamphlet  you  sent  me, 

till    I   should    have  read   it,  which    1    have  n<>\v    done    twice,  with 

It   and   pleasure       I    congratulate  you   sincerely 

on  th  ry  you  have  made,  whkrh  must  not    only  be   greatly 

valuable    in   Agriculture    and    Horticulture,    but   in    many   o.thcr 
ma:  <  II. 

Always  faithfully  yours, 

W.   M.   MKIM-IDITH. 
.  PLEASONTON,  Monday,  10th  July,  1871. 


31 

[VII.] 

[From   Wm.   A.  Ingham,   Esq.,   a   Director   of  the   Lehigh    Valley 
Railroad  Company.'] 

320  WALNUT  ST.,  > 

PHILADELPHIA,  August  29th,  1871.  j 
DEAR  GENERAL  : 

Allo-v  mo  to  return  my  thanks  for  the  copies  of  your  pamphlet. 
I  have  read  it  with  great  interest  and  am  satisfied  that  your  dis- 
covery will  have  wonderful  results,  revolutionizing  in  fact  tho 
science  of  horticulture. 

I  am,  very  truly  yours, 

W'M.  A.  INGHAM. 
GEN.  A.  J.  PLEASONTON. 


[YIIL] 

[From  the  Hon.  Joseph  R.   Chandler,  late  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
of  the  United  States  at  the  Court  of  Naples  ] 

153  NORTH  TENTH  STREET,  ) 
20th  September,  1871.      j 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  thank  you  for  a  copy  of  tho  third  edition  of  your  pamphlet  on 
"tho  influence  of  tho  blue  colour  of  the  sky."  I  cannot  doubt 
the  importance  of  your  discovery,  nor  fail  to  see  that  the  public 
must  hold  itself  indebted  to  you  for  your  interesting  and  success- 
ful experiments. 

With  great  respect,  your  servant, 

JOS.  E.  CHANDLER. 
GEN.  PLEASONTON. 

[IX.] 

DEPARTMENT  OP  THE  INTERIOR,  ) 
PATENT  OFFICE.  } 

WASHINGTON,  D.JJC.,  August  15th,  1871. 
A,  J.  PLEASONTON,  Philadelphia,  Penn. 

Your  letter  of  the  14th  inst.,  relative  to  your  invitation  to  tho 
examiner  in  charge  of  the  Agricultural  class  of  this  office  to  call 
upon  you  to  witness  the  influence  of  the  "  blue  colour  of  the  sky" 
in  developing  animal  and  vegetable  life, is  received. 

In  reply  you  are  informed  that  Prof.  Brainerd  is  at  present  con- 
fined to  his  room  by  sickness,  but  a  leave  will  be  given  him  for  tho 
purpose  of  accepting  your  invitation,  as  soon  as  he  is  able  to  travel. 
Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

M.  D.  LEGGETT, 

Commissioner. 


32 

[X.] 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR,  1 
PATENT  OFFICE.  j 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August  19th,  1871. 
DEAR  SIR: 

I  liavo  so  far  recovered  from  my  late  illness  as  to  bo  able  to  pay 

B  visit  in  compliance  with  your  invitation,  for  the  purpose  of 

examining  your  improvement  in  the  construction  of  conservatories. 

1  purpose  to  leave  this  city  on  the  8  A.  M.  train  on  Tuesday, 

and  shall  therefore  bo  due  at  Philadelphia  at  1  P.  M.     *      *     *     * 

Respectfully, 

J.  BRAINERD, 

Examiner. 
GEN.  A.  J.  PLEASONTON,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


[XI] 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR, 
PATENT  OFFICE. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  September  6th,  1871. 
DEAR  GENERAL : 

Your  drawing  arrived  this  morning,  and  the  patent  will  now  go 
to  issue,  but  will  take  the  usual  time. 

The  Commissioner  yesterday  introduced  General  Babcoek,  who 

is  Superintendent  of  Public  Grounds,  and  Consulting   Engineer 

of  the  Board  of  Public  Works.     The  object  of  his  call  was  to  learn 

particulars  in  regard  to  your  cerulean  process.     I  had  a  pleasant 

view  with  him,  at  the  close  of  which  he  desired  me  to  write 

•  ii,   asking   the    privilege   of  using  your  invention   upon    a 

grajx-ry  which  he   is  now  fitting  up  on   the  President's  grounds. 

An  :.  .-rectcd  to  the  care  of  myself  or  Commissioner  of 

Patents,  will  reach  him  promptly.     ****** 

Respectfully, 
GENERAL  A.  J.  PLEASONTON.  J.  BRAINERD. 


[XII.] 

PARIS,  September  29th,  1871. 
Pr  K  \*<-NTON. 

MI  SIR: — I  have  just  received  and  read  with  great  pleasure, 

your  Tery  interesting  paper  from  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  of  August 

g  your  experiments  on  the  action  of  coloured  light 

fii    plants   and   animals.     You  will   find   in  the    "Report   of  tne 


33 

Department  of  Agriculture,"  at  Washington,  for  1869,  a  very  long 
report  of  mine  ''on  the  influence  of  cli  Dialogic  agents,  atmospheric 
and  terrestrial,  upon  agriculture,"  where,  in  the  chapters  of  light 
and  electricity,  I  have  treated  fully  all  these  questions  with  a 
great  number  of  experiments  and  quotations  of  authors.  At 
that  time  I  had  no  idea  of  any  of  your  publications,  although  I 
had  formed  a  bibliography  on  that  subject  of  1326  articles  in 
every  language.  I  am  preparing  a  work  in  French  and  English 
on  Agricultural  Meteorology,  and  I  should  be  most  happy  to 
mention  in  it  your  experiments,  and  to  receive  all  that  you  havo 
published.  My  name  may  be  known  to  you  through  my  papers 
on  Meteorology  at  the  French  Academy  and  in  America.  I  was 
the  founder  and  director  of  the  observatory  at  Havana  until  tho 
beginning  of  our  war,  being  now  a  victim  of  my  patriotism.  I 
correspond  with  several  journals  of  the  United  States,  as  tho 

American  Agriculturist,  the  Rural  New  Yorker,  etc.,  etc.  *  *  * 
***** 

I  remain,  General,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

ANDRE  POET. 
54  Rue  Mazarine,  Hotel  Mazarin. 


[XIII.] 

PARIS,  November  10th,  1871. 
GENERAL  A.  J.  PLEASONTON. 

DEAR  SIR  : — Your  most  affectionate  of  October  10th,  is  at  hand, 
with  seven  copies  of  your  interesting  pamphlet.  After  a  very 
careful  study  of  that  paper,  I  should  advise  you  strongly  to  pursue 
your  experiments  on  the  influence  of  coloured  lights  on  vegetable 
and  animal  life.  There  are  still  a  great  many  points  to  be  resolved, 
and,  unfortunately,  this  important  question  has  been  totally 
abandoned  in  our  days.  Should  you  publish  anything  else,  pray 
do  not  forget  me.  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  quote  all  your  experi- 
ments in  my  works.  At  the  next  sitting  of  the  French  Academy, 
I  shall  also  endeavor  to  have  a  little  extract  of  your  pamphlet 
inserted  in  the  Comptes  Rendus  of  that  Institution,  with  a  copy 
presented  in  your  name,  aud  also  to  M.  Becquerel,  M.  Duchartro, 
the  Meteorological  Society,  etc.  I  am  waiting  for  the  return  of 
one  of  its  perpetual  Secretaries,  M.  Elie  de  Beaumont.  I  shall 
have  the  pleasure  to  send  you  whatever  may  be  published  on  your 
experiments.  I  have  sent  another  copy  to  the  Meteorological 
Society  of  Yienna,  very  much  interested  in  the  study  of  periodical 
phenomena,  treated  in  my  second  report  to  the  Department  of 
Agriculture.  ******** 

I  remain  your  most  obedient  servant, 

ANDRE  POEY. 
54  Rue  Mazarin,  Hotel  Mazarin. 


34 

[XIV.] 

PARIS,  November  24th,  1871. 
A.  J.  PLEASONTON. 
I>KAR  Sm  : — As  I  had  promised  you  I  enclose  the  little  extract 
n toil  to  the  French  Academy  of  Science,  Monday  last,  and 
which  will  appear  to-morrow  in  tho  Comptes  Rendus.  I  took  par- 
ticular pains  to  write  a  condensed  letter,  giving  tho  most  striking 
f.u-t*,  to  tho  perpetual  Secretary,  tho  great  Geologist,  M.  Elio  de 
Beaumont,  who  was  very  much  interested  in  your  experiments. 
A  copy  was  also  presented  to  tho  Academy,  Bccqucrcl  Father, 
Dnchartro,  and  Barm  I,  tho  editor  of  tho  Practical  Journal  of  Agri- 
culture, who  will  reprint  it  in  that  paper.  At  tho  same  time  dif- 
foront  scientific  and  political  papers  will  make  somo  mention  of  it. 
I  shall  send  next  week  the  translation  of  my  letter  to  tho  excel- 
lent English  journal  called  Mature',  so  your  experiments  and  namo 

will  bo,  in  short,  spread  through  tho  scientific  world  in  Europe. 
****** 

I  remain,  General,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

ANDR&  POEY. 
54  Ruo  Mazarin,  Hotel  Mazarin. 


[XV.] 

[From  Rev.  Henry  A.  Boardmin,  Pastor  Tenth  Presbyterian  CJiurch, 

Philadelphia.] 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL  : 

;  for  your  generous  supply  of  tho   Memoir,  and  not 
less  for  tho  very  kind  terms  of  your  note. 

ynco  before  in  our  national  history  tho  subject  of  "  Blue  Light " 

I  a  great  commotion.     Tiioro  will  bo  a  greater  still  before 

and   in  a  somewhat  more    beneficent  direction.     I  heartily 

vou  on  tho  just  f.imo  which  is  already  assured  to  you 

a.-j  tlio  reward  of  your  great  discovery. 

1  shall  place  tho  pamphlets  where  t'.icy  will  by  appreciated. 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

11.  A.  IJOA'RDMAN, 
May  1st,  1S72.  1311  Spruce  Street. 


[XVI.] 
[From  the  same.] 

loll  SPRUCE  Sr.,  June  1st,  1S72. 

II  Y    1>K.UI  flF.NERAT.: 

tri  a  viro  laudato," — to  bo  praised  by  a  man  who  is  him- 
self praised, — the  Latins  used  to  think  was  a  very  nice  thing.     So 


35 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  enclosing  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Sprague,  for  forty  years  a  pastor  at  Albany,  one  of  the  most  ac- 
complished and  revered  clergymen  of  our  church  or  country,  and 
enjoying  a  high  European  reputation.  You  will  see  what  estimate 
he  puts  upon  your  great  discovery,  and  bow  ho  prizes  your 
autograph.  For  I  took  the  liberty  of  sending  him  your  kind  noto 
to  me,  for  his  famous  autographic  collection — the  largest  (somo 
20f>,000  specimens,  I  believe,)  and  finest  in  America. 

1  enclose,  also,  a  noto  from  Mr.  Alex.  Brown,  Nineteenth  and 
"Walnut,  to  whom  I  gave  the  Memoir.  I  know  it  will  gratify  you. 
With  sincere  regard, 

I  am,  dear  General,  yours, 

II.  A,  BO  A  RDM  AX. 


design  these  two  autographs  for  your  collection,  so  you 
•will  not  return  them. 


[XVII] 
[From  Alexander  Brown,  Esq.,  Banker,  &c.~\ 

PHILADELPHIA,  May  30th,  1872. 
HEV.  H.  A.  BOARDMAN. 

DEAR  SIR  : — I  thank  you  for  the  copy  of  Gen.  Pleasonton's  ad- 
dress before  the  "  Philadelphia  Agricultural  Society." 

I  have  read  it  with  great  interest,  and  think  that  the  successful 
result  of  his  experiments  of  the  blue  colour  on  animal  and  vegeta- 
ble life  must  carry  conviction  to  every  mind. 

Yery  respectfully,  yours, 

ALEX.  BROWN. 


[XVIIL] 

\From  the  Eev.  Dr.  W.  B.  Sprague,  an  eminent  divine  of  Albany, 

New  York.'] 

FLUSHING,  May  30,  1872. 
MY  DEAR  DR.  BOADMAN. 

Since  I  wrote  you  yesterday,  (I  believe  misdating  my  letter.) 
I  have  read  the  pamphlet  you  kindly  sent  me,  with  astonishment 
and  admiration.  I  am  not  chemist  enough  to  pronounce  upon 
every  part  of  it,  but  it  seems  to  mo  that  the  man  who  could  havo 
written  it  is  destined  to  be  a  groat  benefactor  to  the  world  ;  I  do 
not  see  why  it  should  not  mark  the  introduction  of  a  new  and 
better  era.  I  shall  lay  it  away,  with  the  author's  autograph,  as 
containing  everything  concerning  him  that  I  should  desire. 
With  much  love,  as  ever,  yours, 

W.  B.  SPKAGUE. 


36 

[XIX.] 
[From  H.  A.  Boardman."} 

1311  SPRUCE  ST.,  Oct.  10th. 
MY  DEAR  GENERAL: 

Wo  arc  all  prepared  to  testify  that  the  blue  glass  grapes  are  in 
nizo,  color  :ind  flavor  of  the  very  choicest.  If  there  bo  gainsayers 
send  them  to  us.  Wo  give  you  many  thanks  for  so  generous  a 
sample  of  your  crop.  And  what  bunches,  too  ! 

The  fresh  testimonies  you  recite  are  very  remarkable — a  fur- 
ther presage  of  the  certain  and  early  attention  which  will  soon 
be  given  to  this  whole  subject,  by  men  of  science.  I  regret  that  I 
am  compelled  to  send  this  bare  acknowledgment  of  your  ex- 
tremely interesting  letter. 

I  am,  very  truly  yours, 

II.  A.  BOARDHAN. 


[XX.] 

Lieut.   Col.   Charles  Manby,  Royal  Volunteer  Engineer  Staff' 
Corps,  England.] 

GO  WESTBOURNE  TERRACE,  HYDE  PARK. 

LONDON,  March  23d,  1872. 
MY  DEAR  GENERAL: 

Pray  accept  my  thanks  for  your  kind  letter  of  5th  inst.,  and  for 
x  copies  of  your  most  interesting  paper,  which   I  shall  dis- 
tribute to  the  persons  most  capable  of  comprehending   it,  and  of 
repeating  the  experiments  here. 

I    am    grieved    to    say  that  my  dear  old   friend    A.    II.,    of 
Copenhagen,  for  whom  I  ventured  to  ask  you.  to  send  mo  your 
p:iper,  h:is  died  in  the  interval,  and  ho  never  received  your  paper, 
nor  the  copies  of  tho  Comptes  Rendus  de  V  Academic  de  Sciences  de 
aingof  thosubject,  of  which  I  procured  him  exomplaires. 
ill,  1  hope,  keep  up  his   Horticultural  Experiments  and 
when  I  next  go  to  Denmark  I  will  tell  you  whet  her  any  experiments 
:  your  system.      I  have  many  friends  who  will,  1 
think,  try  the  and  if  you  desiro  to  make  it  known,  scud 

me  some  mor- •  ;iul  they  shall  bo  well  placed  among  influ- 

ential  ])<•:  I    am  a  member  of  tho  Horticultural  and  tho 

Botai  ictics  of  London,  and  in  my  capacity  of  Honorary 

Secretary  of  tho  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers  of  England,  I  am 
in  communication  with  scientific  men,  so  I  can  make  your  system 
well  known  to  everybody.  It  is  most  interesting  as  an  investiga- 
tion, and  I  will  try  and  get  it  tried  in  every  way.  ***** 
Bclicvo  mo,  my  dear  General,  yours  sincerely, 

CHARLES  MANBY. 


37 

[XXI.] 
[From  J.  T.  Alden,  of  Newport,  Kentucky.'] 

NEWPORT,  KENTUCKY,  May  £6th,  1872. 
GENERAL  A.  J.  PLEASONTON,  PHILADELPHIA. 

DEAR  SIR  : — Your  esteemed  favor  of  23d  inst.,  with  pamphlets,  at 
hand,  for  which  please  accept  my  sincere  thanks. 

I  read  your  treatise  with  absorbing  interest  and  satisfaction,  and 
was  amazed  at  the  wonderful  discoveries  evolved  by  your  critical 
observations  and  the  scientific  deductions  and  logical  conclusions, 
and  still  more  astounded  by  their  grand  and  overwhelming 
demonstrations. 

Your  mind  and  vision  have  penetrated  into  the  labyrinth  of  the 
"imponderable"  deep  of  nature,  and  eliminated  from  her  secret 
chambers  great  practical  truths  that  hitherto  have  been  buried 
in  an  abyss  too  profound  for  even  man's  comprehension.  My  dear 
sir,  I  do  most  sincerely  congratulate  you  as  the  author  of  a  dis- 
covery ranking  in  great  practical  value  with  those  of  Morse, 
Newton,  Fulton  and  Watt.  I  cannot  feel  you  will  soon  be 
adequately  rewarded,  because  truths  like  these  are  too  abstruse  for 
immediate  apprehension  by  the  common  mind.  But  time  will 
reduce  your  grand  theory  (no  longer  theory  in  your  hands,)  to 
practice,  and  not  until  then  will  your  great  efforts  be  duly  appre- 
ciated. 

I  bow  in  deep  grateful  devotion  to  you,  as  the  chosen  instru- 
ment of  God  in  communicating  this  valuable  knowledge  to  man- 
kind ;  and  may  it  be  your  happiness,  as  of  Morse,  to  see  its  adoption 
by  your  fellow-creatures  throughout  the  civilized  world,  as  well  as 
like  him  to  reap  the  full  fruition  of  its  honors  and  fruits.  And  if 
you  are  not  deluged  with  letters,  I  would  like  to  ask  if  these 
principles  may  be  applied  in  a  more  humble  way  than  your 
demonstration  exhibits?  Can  they  be  made  subservient  to  the 
production  of  early  vegetables  by  the  ordinary  hot  bed  cultivation  ? 
Have  you  experimented  "  on  this  line,"  or  has  any  one  under  your 
instruction?  If  two  or  three  weeks  can  be  anticipated  over  the 
hot  bed  culture  now  so  common,  it  would  equal  400  miles  of  lati- 
tude in  influence  and  results.  On  this  point,  if  consistent  with 
your  time  and  convenience,  I  should  be  highly  gratified  to  hear 
from  you,  stating  any  knowledge  in  your  possession  of  results  or 
discoveries  in  this  line  of  industries. 

With  considerations  of  profound  respect,  I  am,  dear  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  T.  ALDEN. 

I  will  confer  with  you  touching  the  area  of  territory  desired 
hereafter. 


38 
[XXII.] 

[From  Dr.  John  C.  Brown,   7nte  Professor  of  Botany  in  tfie  South 
African  College,  Cape  Town,  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Africa.'] 

PHILADELPHIA,  3405  BARING  STRFET,  1 
16th  October,  1873.      j 

SIR: — I  have  tried  to  procure  a  copy  of  your  valuable  treatise 
on  blue  light  as  an  organic  stimulant,  but  have  failed.  May  1  ask 
you  where  I  can  procure  a  copy?  May  I  ask  if  you  have  collected 
any  information  on  the  climatic  effects  which  have  followed  tho 
extensive  destruction  of  forests  in  America,  and,  if  you  can  inform, 
me  where  I  may  procure  information  on  this  pant?  1  have  just 
completed  the  tour  of  the  foreat  districts  of  central  and  northern 
Europe,  collecting  information  for  the  use  of  tho  Government  at 
the  Capo  of  Good  Dope,  and  having  come  to  tho  Conference  of  tho 
Evangelical  Alliance,  I  am  desirous  of  such  information,  and  I 
shall  feel  greatly  obliged  if  )'ou  can  supply  it.  I  leave  for  Pitts- 
burgh on  Monday.  Address  mo  to  the  care  of  KEY.  0.  EASTMAN, 
311  West  Twenty-Ninth  Street,  New  York. 

My  permanent  address  is,  REV.  D.  BROWN,  Bcrwick-on-Twced, 
England. 

I  am,  sir,  respectfully  yours, 

JOHN  C.  BROWN,  LL.  D.,  F.  R.  G.  S.,  F.  L.  S.,  &c. 

Late  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  South  African  College,  Cape 
Town. 

To  GENEBAL  PLEASONTOH. 


MY.  (President  and  Gentlemen  of  the 

(Philadelphia  Society  for  Promoting  Agriculture : 

IT  is  now  more  than  three  years  since  I  had  the  honour  to 
read  before  you  my  memoir  "  on  the  influence  of  the  blue 
colour  of  the  sky  in  developing  animal  and  vegetable  life,  as 
illustrated  by  certain  experiments  I  had  instituted  and 
continued  between  the  years  1861  and  1871." 

The  subject  was  so  entirely  novel,  and  the  results  of  the  ex- 
periments were  so  surprising,  that  men  were  lost  in  amaze- 
ment when  they  contemplated  the  facts  as  they  were  narrated, 
and  began  to  conjecture  the  bearing  that  these  facts  were 
destined  to  have  upon  the  comfort,  the  health  and  the 
prosperity  of  mankind. 

As  a  knowledge  of  the  experiments  and  the  conclusions 
deduced  from  them  became  diffused,  various  criticisms  appeared 
in  many  journals,  some  of  which  were  humorous,  and  intended 
to  be  facetious;  others  treated  the  subject  with  grave  dignity, 
not  knowing  exactly  what  to  make  of  it ;  while  others,  again, 
grasping  it  in  its  important  relations,  as  by  intuition,  welcomed 
it  as  a  long  step  in  advance  in  the  knowledge  of  the  great 
truths  in  physics  which  mankind  are  so  anxious  to  acquire. 
All  this  was  perfectly  natural.  The  little  knowledge  which 
men  have  has  been  acquired  by  great  labour,  industry,  priva- 
tion, and  perhaps  through  a  long  course  of  arduous  study. 
They  are,  therefore,  loath  to  abandon  preconceived  notions 
upon  any  subject.  It  would  be  a  loss  of  so  much  mental 
capital.  A  new  idea,  therefore,  upon  any  familiar  subject 
naturally  excites  doubt,  and  is  met  with  disapproval  until,  by 
a  free  and  full  discussion,  its  merits  are  understood,  when,  if  it 
is  established  by  facts  and  conclusive  reasoning  upon  them,  it 
is  accepted  as  sound,  though  it  may  displace  all  preexisting 
notions  in  opposition  to  it. 

Such  has  been  the  history  of  the  publication  of  my  memoir, 
and  of  the  wonderful  discovery  that  it  describes.  I  proceed 
now  to  communicate  to  you  some  facts  in  connection  with  this 
subject,  which  are  very  curious,  instructive  and  important. 


It  may  be  remembered  that  in  the  month  of  May,  1871,  a 
great  hailstorm  visited  this  city  and  neighbourhood,  and 
inflicted  immense  damage  among  gardens,  green  houses,  &c. 
Among  the  sufferers  was  Mir,  Robert  Buist,  Sr.,  in  his  extensive 
;ses,  near  Darby,  in  some  of  which  nearly  all  of  the 
was  broken.  The  damage  was  promptly  repaired,  and 
the  houses  reglazed  as  before,  with  colourless  glass.  After 
which,  my  memoir  on  the  influence  of  the  blue  colour  of  the 
sky,  «5cc.,  which  had  been  read  before  your  society  in  the  begin- 
ning of  May,  of  that  year,  was  printed  and  published.  It  was 
tht-n  too  late  for  Mr.  Buist  to  introduce  blue  glass  into  his 
forcing  houses — but  fully  informed  of  the  results  of  my  experi- 
ments he  adopted  an  expedient,  which  differing  somewhat 
from  my  experiments  confirms  the  conclusions  thereon  to 
which  I  had  arrived,  and  which  will  prove  a  valuable  addition 
to  our  appliances  in  horticulture. 

Mr.  Buist  had  at  this  time  a  very  large  and  valuable 
collection  of  geraniums  which  had  become  diseased;  some  of 
them  had  died,  others  were  feeble,  losing  their  leaves  and 
flowers,  and  others  again,  though  blooming,  were  sensibly 
e  deprived  of  the  brilliant  tints  of  colour  which  char- 
acterized their  several  varieties. 

It  occurred  to  Mr.  Buist  that  if  he  should  paint  with  a  light  blue 
•  tin-  inside  surface  of  each  pane  of  glass  in  one  of  his 
houses,  leaving  a  margin  of  an  inch  and  a  quarter  in  width  of 
the  glass  in  its  uncoloured  condition  all  around  the  painted 
surface  on  each  of  the  panes  of  glass,  and  then  place  his 
sickly  geranium  plants  in  the  house  under  this  glass  so 
painted,  the  vigour  of  his  plants  might  be  restored. 

The  experiment  was  made,  and  was  successful.  The  plants 
after  they  had  been  placed  in  this  house, 
r  they  began  to  put  forth  new  leaves,  and 

at  the  end  i.f  ten  days  their  vigour  wa-  not  merely  restored,  but 
Mr.  Bui--  .tnts  he  had  thus  treated  were 

althy  and  vi^onrous   than   ho   had  ever  seen  similar 
plants  of  ,  have  been.     Their  colours  were 

not  only  restored  but  their  tints  were  intensified. 

During  the  summer  of  1*71,   Mr.  Dreer,  one  of  our  most 

.  called  my  attention  to  another  con- 
y,  which  had  just  comu  to  his  notice.     It 
;/..  : 


3 

A  professional  gardener  in  Massachusetts  (near  Boston)  had 
been  trying  for  several  years  to  protect  his  young  plants,  as 
they  were  germinating,  from  various  minute  insects  which  fed 
upon  them,  sometimes  as  soon  as  they  were  formed.  For  this 
purpose  he  adopted  nearly  every  expedient  of  which  he  had 
any  knowledge,  and  even  used  the  primary  rays  of  sunlight 
separately.  Xothing  succeeded,  however,  in  these  experiments 
but  the  blue  ray,  which  proved  itself  to  be  a  perfect  protec- 
tion against  the  attacks  of  these  insects.  He  made  a  small 
triangular  frame,  similar  in  form  to  a  soldier's  tent,  covered  it 
with  blue  gauze,  such  as  ladies  use  for  their  veils.  Having 
prepared  a  piece  of  ground,  he  sowed  his  seed  in  it,  and, 
covering  a  portion  of  the  ground  thus  prepared  with  his  little 
blue  frame  and  gauze,  he  left  the  other  parts  exposed  to  the 
attacks  of  the  insects.  His  plants  outside  of  this  frame  were 
all  eaten  by  the  insects,  as  soon  as  they  germinated,  while 
those  under  it  escaped  entirely  from  their  depredations.  This 
experiment  was  tried  many  times,  and  always  with  similar 
results. 

This  gardener  had  written  an  account  of  his  experiments  to 
Mr.  Dreer,  and  had  forwarded  to  him  one  of  his  small  blue 
gauze  frames,  in  order  to  its  introduction  here  to  the  attention 
of  our  gardeners.  This  was  shown  to  me  by  Mr.  Dreer,  with 
the  gardener's  account  of  his  experiments  with  it. 

The  explanation  of  this  phenomenon,  I  think,  is  this. 
The  sunlight  negatively  electrified  in  passing  through  the 
meshes  of  the  blue  gauze  of  the  frame,  which  is  positively 
electrified,  excites  an  electro-magnetic  current  sufficiently 
strong  to  destroy  the  feeble  vitality  of  the  eggs  or  of  the  insects 
themselves,  which  are  in  the  soil  with  the  seed,  leaving  the 
seed  to  germinate  more  rapidly  under  its  influence.  One 
remarkable  circumstance  in  these  experiments  was  that  the 
combination  of  sunlight  with  blue  light,  while  it  destroyed 
these  noxious  insects  injurious  to  vegetation,  at  the  same 
time  stimulated  the  development  of  the  growth  of  the  plants 
it  had  preserved. 

Having  introduced  blue  glass  into  the  windows  of  the  sleep- 
ing apartments  of  my  servants  in  one  of  my  country  houses,  it 
was  observed  that  large  numbers  of  flies,  that  had  previously 
infested  them,  were  dead  soon  after  its  introduction,  on  the 
inside  sills  of  the  windows.  This  effect  seemed  to  be  pro- 
duced by  a  like  cause  to  that  on  the  insects  injurious  to  vege- 


tation  as  described  by  the  gardener  of  Massachusetts  in  his 
experiments.  Various  experiments  have  been  made  in  several 
parts  of  this  country  as  well  as  in  Europe,  with  this  associated 
light,  in  developing  vegetable  life  according  to  my  suggestions 
and  with  results  corresponding  to  those  that  I  have  obtained. 
A  lady  of  my  acquaintance,  residing  in  this  city,  informed  me 
that  having  some  very  choice  and  rare  flowering  plants  in  pots 
in  her  pitting  room,  which  were  drooping  and  manifesting  signs 
of  disease,  she  threw  over  them  a  blue  gauze  veil,  such  as 
ladies  wear,  and  exposed  them  to  the  sunlight,  when  she  was 
highly  gratified  to  discover  that  in  a  very  short  time  they  were 
fully  restored  to  health  and  vigour. 

A  gentleman  in  "West  Philadelphia  having  a  large  lemon 
tree,  which  he  prized  highly,  placed  it  in  his  hall  near  to  the 
vestibule  door,  the  side  fights  of  which  were  of  glass  of  differ- 
ent colours,  blue  and  violet  predominating;  the  sunlight 
pas-ing  through  these  side  lights  fell  upon  a  portion  of  the 
branches  of  this  lemon  tree ;  great  vigour  was  imparted  thereby 
to  the  vitality  of  these  branches,  which  were  filled  with  very 
fine  lemons,  while  the  other  branches  of  the  tree  that,  did  not 
receive  the  light  from  these  blue  and  violet  panes  of  glass, 
were  small,  feeble  and  apparently  unhealthy,  and  were  without 
fruit. 

It   will  be    remembered    that   during    our   late  civil    war, 
when   commercial    intercourse    between    the    Northern    and 
Southern  States  had  ceased,  the  sale  of  early  fruits  and  vegeta- 
bles   in    the   markets    of  the   principal    northern    cities,  was 
monopolized  by  their  producers  in  the  states  of  New  Jersey 
and  Delaware,  and  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland.     This 
valuable   trade,    and    enriched    many   of   those 
in  it.     The  price  of  land  in  these  regions   became 
enhanced   in  value,  and   the    people    resident   there    enjoyed 
On  the  restoration  of  peace  all  this  was 

changed;   the  people,    along  the  Atlantic    slope  of   Virginia, 

i  and  South  Carolina  and  of  a  part  of  Georgia,  at  onco 

;-"d  upon  the  cultivation  of  fruits  and  vegetables  for  tho 

north'-rn  ritie-^  and  owing  to  their  lower  latitudes  and  earlier 

;:iid  improved  modes  of  cultivation,  they  have  secured 

their  lost  markets,  and   are  now  rapidly  recovering  from   the 

ts  of' the  w;ir.      All  this,  of  course,  is  a  corresponding  loss 

to  the  tanners  of  New  .Jersey,  Delaware  and  the  eastern  shore 

<>f  Maryland,  ami  lence  th"  value  of  farming  lands 

in  thes-  has  been  sensibly  depreciated.     A  large  por- 


tion  of  this  trade  can  be  recovered  by  the  application  of  my 
discovery  to  the  cultivation  of  vegetables  and  fruits,  and  their 
maturity  can  be  hastened  so  as  to  equal  that  of  those  of  the 
Southern  States  herein  referred  to. 

The  early  vegetables  used  in  my  family  are,  for  the  most 
part,  started  in  pots  under  blue  and  plain  glass,  then  trans- 
planted into  proper  soil,  and  are  ready  for  use  several  weeks 
before  I  could  otherwise  obtain  them.  As  an  illustration,  we 
have  been  using  on  my  table  since  July  12th,  of  this  year, 
Stowell's  evergreen  sugar  corn,  grown  in  this  way,  while  I  am 
informed  that  it  is  one  of  the  latest  in  the  season  to  mature; 
it  will  'be  at  least  two  weeks  later  than  now,  August  10th, 
before  any  of  it  grown  otherwise  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
growth  will  be  ready  for  use.* 

As  it  is  only  the  very  early  and  very  late  vegetables  and 
fruits  that  remunerate  the  grower,  while  the  abundance  of 
the  regular  crops  reduces  the  prices  oftentimes  below  cost, 
it  is  truly  the  interest  of  all  persons  engaged  in  furnishing 
such  foods  to  mankind,  to  produce  them  and  sell  them  when 
the  prices  are  highest,  viz.,  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  their 
seasons. 

Cotton  and  tobacco,  in  the  Middle  States,  can  be  raised  and 
matured  according  to  this  process,  so  as  to  avoid  entirely  the 
September  frosts,  and  to  compete  in  yield  and  quality  with 
any  of  the  cottons  grown  in  the  Southern  States,  unless  it  may 
be  the  Sea  Island  cotton.  I  have  myself  raised  and  matured 
cotton  plants  on  my  lawn  in  this  city,  year  after  year,  which 
produced  as  fine  and  large  bolls  as  I  have  ever  seen  in  Carolina 
or  Georgia,  and  this  without  the  use  of  blue  glass,  and  before 
I  had  made  my  discovery  of  its  wonderful  influence  on  vegeta- 
tion. 

A  machine  has  been  invented  and  patented  at  Washington 
City,  by  which  a  man,  with  it  and  a  mule,  can  set  out  in  a  day 
grooving  cotton  plants  which  would  cover  an  immense  area  of 
land.  !Now  if  these  plants  are  started  according  to  my  direc- 
tions, under  these  glasses,  and  then  transplanted  into  suitable 
soil  after  the  spring  frosts  are  over,  the  heat  and  moisture 
of  the  summer  in  the  Middle  States,  which  probably  are  in 
excess  of  those  of  the  Southern  States  at  that  season,  will 
rapidly  ensure  the  maturity  of  the  plants  ;  and  crops  can  be  thus 
raised  which  will  compete  favorably  with  those  of  any  other 

*  The  above  was  written  in  1874. 


section  of  the  country.  This  same  principle  of  hastening  the 
maturity  of  plants,  applies  with  still  greater  force  to  higher 
latitudes  where  the  seasons  of  growth  are  necessarily  short. 

It  is  estimated  that  people  residing  six  or  eight  degrees  of 
latitude  farther  north  than  the  present  latitude  of  cultivation 
of  various  plants,  may  he  enabled  to  enjoy  many  plants  and 
fruits  of  which  they  are  now  deprived,  by  the  introduction  of 
the  process  of  development  that  I  have  herein  sketched. 

What  boundless  blessings  may  not  be  obtained  in  this  man- 
ner for  the  populations  of  Northern  Germany,  Southern  Russia, 
of  Scandinavia,  Northern  China  and  even  the  Steppes  of 
Tartary,  and  some  parts  of  Siberia  which  may  be  brought 
within  the  influence  of  this  wonderful  power,  and  thus,  by  • 
increasing  the  comforts  of  life,  hasten  the  progress  of  their 
civilization.  So  much  for  vegetation  and  what  may  be  done 
with  it.  We  will  now  invite  your  attention  to  the  stimulating 
influence  exerted  by  this  associated  blue  and  sunlight  upon 
animal  life. 

An  esteemed  friend  of  mine,  of  high  character,  Commodore 
J.  11.  Goldsborough,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  having  bean 
assigned  to  the  command  of  one  of  our  western  naval  stations 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1871,  caused  some  experiments  to 
be  made  with  the  associated  blue  light  of  the  firmament,  and 
sunlight,  and  subsequently  addressed  to  me  a  letter,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  copy,  viz  : 


MOUND  CITY,  ILLINOIS,  May  31st, 
To  GENERAL  A.  J.  PLEASONTON,  Philadelphia,  Penn'a. 

N'ERAL  :  —  Presuming  that  it  would  be  agreeable  to  you  to 
learn  the  results  of  some  experiments  that  I  caused  to  be 
made,  after  having  read  the  pamphlet  you  did  me  the  honor 
to  place  in  my  hand,  "  On  the  Influence  of  the  Blue  Color  of  the 
Sky,  in  Developing  Animal  and  Vegetable  Life,"  I  proceed  to 
detail  them  to  you  :  The  first  experiment  was  made  here  by  the 
Surgeon  of  this  station,  who,  having  had  every  alternate  pane 
of  uncoloured  glass  removed  from  each  of  two  windows  in  his 
parlour,  and  having  substituted  lor  them  corresponding  panes 
of  blue  glass,  proceeded  to  place  a  number  of  plants  and  vines 
of  many  varieties,  in  pots,  in  the  room  so  as  to  receive  the 
associated  light  of  the  sun  and  the  blue  light  of  the  firmament 
upon  them. 


In  a  very  short  time  the  plants  and  vines  began  to  manifest 
the  effects  of  the  remarkable  influences  to  which  they  had 
been  subjected.  Their  growth  was  rapid  and  extraordinary, 
indicating  unusual  vigour,  and  increasing  in  the  length  of 
their  branches  from  an  inch  and  a  half  to  three  inches,  accord- 
ing to  their  species,  every  twenty-four  hours,  as  by  measure- 
ment. 

The  second  experiment  was  made  in  a  comparison  of  the 
development  of  the  newly  hatched  chickens  of  two  broods  of 
the  same  variety.  In  each  of  these  two  broods  were  thirteen 
chickens,  all  of  which  were  hatched  on  the  same  day. 

Comfortable  but  separate  quarters  near  to  each  other  were 
assigned  to  the  two  broods,  with  their  respective  mothers,  on 
the  lawn ;  one  of  the  coops,  containing  a  hen  and  her  brood, 
was  partly  covered  with  blue  and  plain  glass ;  the  other  coop, 
also  containing  a  hen  and  her  brood,  did  not  differ  from  the 
coops  commonly  used  in  this  country. 

The  chickens  of  each  brood  were  fed  at  the  same  times 
and  with  equal  quantities  of  similar  food.  Those  under  the  blue 
glass  soon  began  to  display  the  effects  of  the  stimulating 
influence  of  the  associated  blue  and  sunlight  by  their  daily 
almost  visible  growth,  increase  of  strength  and  activity,  far 
exceeding  in  all  these  respects,  the  developments  of  the 
chickens  of  the  other  brood  which  were  exposed  to  the  ordi- 
nary atmospheric  influences. 

I  will  also  relate  to  you  what  I  imagine  to  be  another  re- 
markable circumstance  having  relation  to  this  subject. 

On  the  29th  of  January,  1872,  the  wife  of  one  of  the  gentle- 
men on  the  station  gave  birth  prematurely  to  a  very  small 
child,  which  weighed  at  the  time  only  three  and  a  half  pounds. 
It  was  very  feeble,  possessing  apparently  but  little  vitality. 
It  so  happened  that  the  windows  of  the  room,  in  which  it  was 
born  and  reared,  were  draped  with  blue  curtains,  through 
which  and  the  plain  glass  of  the  windows,  the  sunlight  entered 
the  apartment.  The  lacteal  system  of  the  mother  was  greatly 
excited,  and  secreted  an  excessive  quantity  of  milk,  while  at 
the  same  time  the  appetite  of  the  child  for  food  was  greatly 
increased,  to  such  an  extent  indeed,  that  its  mother,  notwith- 
standing the  inordinate  flow  of  her  milk,  at  times  found  it 
difficult  to  satisfy  its  hunger. 


8 

The  child  grew  rapidly  in  health,  strength  and  size;  and  on 
the  29th  of  May,  1872,  just  four  months  after  its  birth,  when  I 
saw  it,  before  I  left  Mound  City,  it  weighed  twenty-two 
pounds. 

Whether  this  extraordinary  result  was  the  effect  of  the 
associated  blue  and  sunlight,  passing  through  the  curtains 
and  glass  of  the  windows,  or  not,  I  do  not  profess  to  determine, 
but  I  give  you  the  facts  of  the  case,  wnich  are  in  complete 
harmony  in  their  developments  with  the  results  of  the  experi- 
ments on  domestic  animals  that  you  yourself  have  made.  With 
great  regard, 

I  remain,  very  truly,  yours, 

JOHN  R.  GOLDSBOROUGH. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  statement  that  this  child  had  grown 
eighteen  pounds  and  a  half  in  Jour  months,  or  four  and  five- 
eighth  pounds  per  month,  and  considering  its  apparently 
slight  hold  upon  life,  at  its  birth,  we  may  unite  with  the 
Commodore  in  believing  it  to  be  "a  remarkable  circumstance." 

On  the  15th  February  of  this  year,  1874,  two  newly  born 
lambs,  one  weighing  three  and  a  half  pounds,  the  other  weigh- 
ing four  pounds,  were  taken  from  their  mothers  and  placed  in 
one  of  the  pens  on  my  farm  fitted  with  blue  and  uncolourcd 
:  they  had  not  received  any  nourishment  from  their  dams, 
were  fed  alike,  and  without  any  design  to  increase  largely 
their  Aveight,  with  skimmed  cow's  milk.  When  they  were  three 
months  old,  they  were  weighed — one  of  them  weighed  fifty- 
one  pounds,  the  other  fifty-five  pounds — at  two  weeks  old 
their  teeth  were  so  much  developed  that  they  began  to  eat 
hay. 

Tin-  flesh  of  lambs  is  deemed  to  be  a  delicacy.     From  this 

experiment,  it  would  appear  that  in  three  months  from  birth 

iambs   !  tied    forty-seven    and  a  half  and  fifty-one 

ly,  which,  at  the  market  price  of  forty  cents  per 

M  in  one  case  twenty  dollars  and  forty  cents, 

and  in  the  other  twenty-two  dollars,   for  the   lambs  weighing 

vely  fifty-one  and  fifty-five  pounds. 

animals  for  food  have  here  a 
.Hid  inexpensive  process  by  which  their  gains  may 
y  increased. 


A  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance  having  a  canary  bird  that 
had  been  a  very  fine  singer,  was  surprised  to  discover  that, 
without  any  apparent  cause,  the  bird  had  ceased  to  sing, 
refused  to  eat,  and  evidently  was  in  a  declining  state  of  health, 
and  it  was  feared  that  he  would  soon  die.  I  recommended 
the  owner  to  try  the  effect  of  blue  and  sunlight  upon  the  bird. 
He  consented.  The  cage  was  removed  with  the  bird  to  the 
bathroom  of  the  owner's  house,  whose  windows  contained  varie- 
gated glass,  blue  and  violet  in  excess.  The  cage,  with  its 
occupant,  was  suspended  so  that  the  sunlight  passing  through 
these  lights  might  fall  upon  the  cage.  The  bird  began  to 
recover  very  soon,  its  appetite  returned,  and  in  a  little  while 
its  song,  which  its  owner  assured  me,  was  sweeter,  stronger 
and  more  spirited  then  he  had  previously  known  it  to  be. 

At  the  close  of  the  late  civil  war  in  this  country,  I  bought  a 
pair  of  mules  that  had  been  used  in  the  military  service  of 
the  government.  A  little  while  after  the  purchase  it  was  dis- 
covered that  one  of  them  was  completely  deaf,  having  had  his 
hearing  destroyed  by  the  noise  of  heavy  firing  during  the 
battles  in  which  he  had  been  employed.  Thereupon  I  directed 
the  teamster  who  had  charge  of  him,  to  be  particularly  careful 
in  using  him,  and  to  treat  him  with  great  gentleness  and  kind- 
ness on  account  of  his  infirmity.  Two  or  three  years  after  he 
came  into  my  possession,  this  mule  was  seized  with  acute 
rheumatism  of  so  violent  a  character  that  the  poor  animal 
could  not  walk.  Before  this  time  he,  with  other  animals,  had 
been  removed  to  a  new  stable  that  I  had  built,  in  which  he 
was  kept  for  several  months  without  being  used  for  work. 
He  gradually  got  better  of  his  rheumatism,  but  his  deafness 
continued  until  this  spring,  when  he  recovered  entirely  both 
from  his  deafness  and  rheumatism.  Over  each  of  the  doors  of 
this  stable  I  had  caused  to  be  placed  a  transom,  with  panes  of 
blue  and  colourless  glass  therein.  The  stall  of  this  mule  was 
before  a  door  with  such  a  transom  over  it.  When  the 
the  sun  arose  in  the  morning,  he  cast  his  light  through  this 
transom  on  the  neck  and  top  of  the  head  of  this  mule.  Before 
he  set  in  the  afternoon  he  threw  his  light  again  upon  the  head 
and  neck  of  this  mule,  through  the  transom  of  another  door 
on  the  northwestern  side  of  the  stable;  the  effect  of  this  light 
upon  the  animal  has  been  the  cure  of  his  rheumatism,  and  the 
removal  of  his  deafness.  He  is  now  as  healthy  and  hearty  a 
mule  as  you  will  see  anywhere.  The  removal  of  this  deafness 
was  produced  by  an  electro-magnetic  current,  evolved  by  the 


10 

two  lights  upon  his  auditory  nerves   and  exciting   them   to 
healthy  action. 

Those  last  two  incidents  just  mentioned,  serve  to  introduce 
the  subject  of  the  Influence  of  the  associated  blue  and  sunlight 
upon  animal  health  and  particularly  upon  Human  Health. 

It  is  known  that  silk  is  one  of  the  most  important  staple 
products  of  Italy.  It  is  also  known  that  much  of  the  high 
•s  which  tills  staple  product  bears  in  commerce,  is  due 
to  the  difficulty  experienced  in  hatching  and  rearing  the  silk 
worms  which  produce  the  cocoons  or  balls  on  which  they  wind 
the  silk  drawn  from  their  bodies.  To  hatch  the  eggs  of  the 
silk  worm,  an  even  temperature  of  a  certain  degree  of  heat  is 
indispensable,  and  great  care  in  feeding  and  keeping  them 
clean  is  required  after  the  worms  are  hatched. 

An  eminent  Italian  chemist,    after   the  publication  of  the 
'is  of  my  experiments;  with   blue  light,    instituted  some 
experiments  in  the  rearing  of  the  silk  worms.     He  placed  a 
certain  number  of  the  eggs   that  produce  the  worms   under 
plain  glass,  of  which,  in  the  hatching  and  rearing,  50  per  cent, 
died.     He  then  placed  the  same  number  of  eggs  under  violet 
.  of  which  only  10  per  cent,  perished.     Had  he  used  blue 
in  his  experiments  it  is  probable  that  the  loss  would  have 
nearly  nominal.     As  the  rearing  of  silk  worms  for  the 
pean  factories  has  become  an  important  industry  in  Cali- 
fornia, we  may  expect  great  success  will  follow  the  efforts  to 
them,  when  the  stimulating  influence  of  blue  light  shall 
; -plied  properly. 

AVhile  we  are  considering  this  subject,  it  may  be  as  well  to 

allude  to  the  vitalizing  influence  of  the   associated  blue  and 

sunlight  of  this  discovery  in   the  cure  of  human    and  other 

animal  diseases,  and  I  may  mention  here  a  most  extraordinary 

in  which  its  power  was  manifested. 

In  :  r  part  of  August,  1871,  I  chanced  to  visit  aphysi- 

cian  of  this  city,  of  my  acquaintance,  whom  I  found  to  be  in 

-s,  and  plunged  in  the  lowest  despondency. 
On  inquiring  the  cause,  he  t<>ld  me.  that  he  feared  that  he  was 
about  to  lose  his  wife,  who  was  suffering  from  a  complication 
of  di  fiat  wen-  most  painful  and  distressing,  and  which 

had  bafili'd  the  skill  of  several  of  the  most  eminent  physicians 
ilso  of  others  of  equal  distinction  in  New  York.     He 
then  stated  that  his  wife  was  suffering  great  pains  in  the  lower 


11 

part  of  her  back,  and  in  her  head  and  neck,  as  also  in  her 
lower  limbs;  that  she  could  not  sleep;  that  she  had  no  appetite 
for  food  and  was  rapidly  wasting  away  in  flesh;  and  that  her  secre- 
tions were  all  abnormal.  I  said  to  him,  "  Why  don't  you  try 
blue  light?  "  to  which  he  replied,  "  I  have  thought  of  that,  but 
you  know  how  it  is  with  wives;  they  will  frequently  reject  the 
advice  of  a  husband,  while  they  would  accept  it  if  offered  by 
any  one  else.  This  has  deterred  me  from  recommending 
blue  light,  but  I  think  that  if  you  should  recommend  it  to  her 
she  will  adopt  it,  for  she  has  great  confidence  in  your  judg- 
ment." I  told  him  that  I  would  most  certainly  recommend  it 
to  her.  Accordingly  we  went  up  to  her  sitting  room  in  the 
second  story  of  the  main  building,  having  a  southern  expo- 
sure, the  house  being  on  the  southern  side  of  the  street.  We 
found  her  seated  at  an  open  window,  the  thermometer  up  in 
the  nineties ;  she  was  looking  very  miserable,  greatly  emaci- 
ated, sallow  in  complexion,  indicating  extreme  ill  health,  and 
her  voice  very  feeble.  On  inquiring  of  her  relative  to  the 
state  of  her  health,  she  described  it  very  much  as  her  husband, 
the  doctor,  had  done.  When  I  had  put  to  her  the  same  ques- 
tion I  had  proposed  to  her  husband,  viz  :  "  Why  don't  you  try 
blue  light  ?  "  "  Oh !"  she  replied,  UI  have  tried  so  many  things, 
and  have  had  so  many  doctors  that  I  am  out  of  conceit  of  all 
remedies;  none  of  them  have  done  me  any  good;  I  don't 
believe  that  anything  can  relieve  me."  To  which  I  remarked, 
4t  Nonsense !  you  have  many  years  of  life  yet  remaining,  and  if 
you  will  try  blue  light  you  will  live  to  enjoy  them."  To 
which  she  answered,  "  Are  you  in  earnest  ?  Do  you  really 
think  that  blue  light  would  do  me  any  good  ?  "  "  Certainly  !" 
I  said,  "I  do,  or  I  would  not  recommend  it  to  you ;  my  expe- 
rience with  it  fully  justifies  my  opinion."  She  then  said  she 
would  try  it,  and  asked  me  how  it  should  be  applied.  I  then 
told  her  and  her  husband  in  what  manner  the  application  of 
blue  light  in  her  case  should  be  made,  and  how  often  and 
when  it  should  be  repeated,  and  they  both  promised  that  the 
trial  with  it  should  be  made  the  next  day. 

Six  days  after  this  interview  I  received  a  note  from  the 
doctor,  asking  me  to  send  him  some  copies  of  my  memoir  on" 
blue  light,  &c.,  which  he  wished  to  forward  to  some  of  his 
distant  friends,  and  at  the  close  of  it  he  had  written  :  "  You 
will  be  surprised  to  learn  that  since  my  wife  has  been  under 
the  blue  glass,  her  hair  on  the  head  has  beguh  to  grow,  not 
merely  longer,  but  in  places  on  her  head  where  there  was 
none  new  hair  is  coming  out  thick."  This  was  certainly  an 


1-2 

unexpected  effect,  but  it  displayed  an  evident  action  on  the 
skin,  and  so  tar  was  encouraging.  Two  days  after  the  receipt 
of  this  note  I  called  to  see  the  doctor,  and  while  he  was 

firing  me  an  account  of  the  experiment  with  the  blue  light, 
is  wife  entered  the  office,  and  coming  to  me,  she  said,  "  Oh, 
general  !  I  am  so  much  obliged  to  you  for  having  recommended 
to  me  that  blue  light!"  "Ah!"  said  I,  "is  it  doing  you  any 
good  ?"  "  Yes,"  she  said,  "  the  greatest  possible  good.  Do 
you  know  that  when  I  put  my  naked  foot  under  the  blue  light, 
all  my  pains  in  the  limb  cease  ?"  I  inquired,  "  Is  that  a  fact  ?" 
She  assured  me  that  it  was,  and  then  added,  "  My  maid  tells 
me  that  rny  hair  is  growing  not  merely  longer  on  my  head, 
but  in  places  there  which  were  bald  new  hair  is  coming  out 
thick."  She  also  said  that  the  pains  in  her  back  were  less, 
and  that  there  was  a  general  improvement  in  the  condition  of 
her  health. 

Three  weeks  afterwards,  on  visiting  them,  the  doctor  told 
me  that  the  arrangement  of  blue  and  sunlight  had  been  a 
complete  success  with  his  wife;  that  her  pains  had  left  her; 
that  ,  she  now  slept  well  ;  her  appetite  had  returned,  and  that 
she  had  already  gained  much  flesh.  His  wife,  a  few  moments 
afterwards,  in  person,  confirmed  this  statement  of  her  husband, 
and  he  added:  "From  my  observation  of  the  effects  of  this 
associated  blue  and  sunlight  upon  my  wife,  I  regard  it  as  the 
greatest  stimulant  and  most  powerful  tonic  that  I  know  of  in 
medicine.  It  will  be  invaluable  in  typhoid  cases,  cases  of  de- 
bility, nervous  depressions,  and  the  like."  It  was  at  this  time 
that  the,  iirst  symptoms  in  the  improved  condition  of  the  health 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  had  been  dangerously  ill  in  Eng- 
land, inounced,  when  the  doctor  added:  "Xow,  in  this 

case  of  the  IVinec  of  Wales,  could  he  have  been  submitted  to 
this  treatment  with  the  associated  blue  and  sunlight  baths, 
his  rec,,  very  would  bo  in  one-tenth  part  of  the  time  that  it  will 
take  under  the  usual  treatment." 


I  introduce  IPTC  a  copy  of  the  letter  that  I  received  from 
this  physician,  J)r.  ,S.  W.  IJeekwith,  oil  this  subject.  It  is  as 
follows,  viz.  : 

"  Ei,K<Turr\L  INSTITUTE,  1220  Walnut  street, 
"  L'liiLAiuaiMiiA,  Hi[>tcinl>(r  21,  IsTl. 

"To  General  A.  J.  Pleasonton. 

IY  I)I:AK  SIR:  —  -In  following  on1  the  suggestions  from  you 

at  our  late  conversation  concerning  the  application  of  the  asso- 


13 

elated  blue  light  of  the  sky  and  sunlight  for  the  cure  of  debility 
and  nervous  exhaustion,  I  have  found  some  very  singular 
results. 

"  The  application  of  your  theory  to  the  cultivation  of  plants 
and  the  development  of  animal  life,  has  been  wonderfully  suc- 
cessful; but  it  will,  in  certain  conditions  of  human  suffering, 
prove  to  be  a  far  greater  blessing  to  mankind,  if  judiciously 
used.  As  ail  illustration,  I  offer  the  following  facts,  viz : 

"  My  wife  had  been  suffering  from  nervous  irritation  and 
exhaustion,  which  resulted  in  severe  neuralgic  and  rheumatic 
pains,  depriving  her  of  sleep  and  appetite  for  food,  and  pro- 
ducing in  her  great  debility,  accompanied  by  a  wasting  away 
of  her  body,  and  changing  the  normal  character  of  her  secre- 
tions. 

"  I  had  prepared  a  window  sash  fitted  with  blue  glass,  which 
was  inserted  in  one  half  of  one  of  the  windows  in  her  sitting- 
room.  The  sash  of  the  other  half  of  the  same  window  was 
fitted  with  uncoloured  glass,  the  window  having  a  southern  ex- 
posure, and  receiving,  from  ten  and  a  half  o'clock  A.  M.  till 
four  o'clock  P.  M.,  the  full  blaze  of  the  sun's  light.  The  shut- 
ters of  the  other  window  (there  being  two  windows  in  the 
room)  were  closed,  excluding  all  light  from  it,  and  light  was 
also  excluded  from  the  upper  sash  of  the  first  mentioned 
window. 

"  This  arrangement  I  found  to  furnish  too  strong  a  blue  light 
for  my  wife's  eyes;  and,  besides,  it  was  not  in  accordance  with 
your  instructions.  So  I  introduced  an  equal  number  of  panes 
of  clear  glass  and  of  blue  glass  into  the  sash,  and  then  rny  wife 
exposed  to  the  action  of  these  associated  lights  those  parts  of 
her  person  which  were  the  subjects  of  her  neuralgia.  In  three 
minutes  afterwards  the  pains  were  greatly  subdued ;  and  in 
ten  minutes  after  having  received  the  lights  upon  her  person, 
they  almost  entirely  ceased  for  the  time  being,  whether  they 
were  in  the  head,  limbs,  feet,  or  spine.  With  each  application 
of  the  sun  and  blue  light  bath,  relief  was  given  immediately. 
There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  in  cases  of  exhaustion  from 
long-continued  fevers  and  other  debilitating  causes,  the  appli- 
cation of  this  principle  that  you  have  discovered  will  restore 
the  patients  to  health  with  a  rapidity  tenfold  greater  than  can 
be  effected  by  any  other  treatment  within  my  knowledge. 


14 

"  Congratulating  you  upon  your  grand  discovery,  as  well  in 
science  as  in  animal  Hygiene, 

"  I  remain,  very  truly  yours, 

"  8.  W.  BECKWITH. 

"P.  S. — From  a  close  examination  of  the  effects   of  these 
associated  lights  of  the  sun  and  the  firmament,  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  they  furnish  the  greatest  stimulant  and  the  most 
powerful  tonic  that  I  am  acquainted  with  in  medicine. 
"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  S.  W.  BECKWITH." 

About  this  time  (September,  1871),  one  of  my  sons,  about  22 
years  of  age,  a  remarkably  vigourous  and  muscular  young  man, 
was  afflicted  with  a  severe  attack  of  sciatica,  or  rheumatism  of 
the  sciatic  nerve,  in  his  left  hip  and  thigh,  from  which  he  had 
been  unable  to  obtain  any  relief,  though  the  usual  medical  as 
well  as  galvanic  remedies  had  been  applied.  He  had  become 
lame  from  it,  and  he  suffered  much  pain  in  his  attempts  to 
walk. 

I  advised  him  to  try  the  associated  sun  and  blue  light,  both 
up«>u  his  naked  spine  and  hip,  which  he  did  with  such  benefit 
that  at  the  end  of  three  weeks  after  taking  the  first  of  these  baths 
of  light,  every  symptom  of  the  disorder  disappeared,  and  he 
has  had  no  return  of  it  since — a  period  now  of  three  years. 

Some  time  since  two  of  my  friends,  Major  Generals  S 

and  1) ,  of  the  lrnited  States  regular  army,  were  on  duty 

in  this  city.     On  making  them  a  visit  at  their  official  residence, 
on  fhf  window-ledge  as  I  entered  the  room,  apiece  of 
blue  glass  of  about  the  size  of  one  of  the  panes  of  glass  in  the 
window.    After  some  conversation,  General  1).  said  to  me,  "Did 
you  notice  that  piece  of  blue  glass  on  our  window-ledge?"     I 
•aid,  "I  had  observed  it."  "Do  you  know  what  it  is  there  for?'' 
Mich  I  replied,  that  "I  did  not !"  lie  then  said,  "I  will  tell 
you — S.  and  1  have  In  ring  very  much  from  rheumatism 

in  our  fore-arms,  from  the  elbow-joints  to  our  fingers'  ends; 
sometimes  our  lingers  were  so  rigid  that  we  could  not  hold  a 
have  tried  almost  every  remedy  that  was  ever  heard 
of  for  relief,  but  without  avail;  at  last  I  said  to  S.,  suppose  we 
try  1'  .hie  glass  to  which  he  assented — when  I  sent 

for  tl.  d  it  on  the  window-ledge.    When  the  sun 

began  about   ten  o'clock   in    the    morning   to    throw   its   light 


15 

through  the  glass  of  the  window,  we  took  off  our  coats,  rolled 
up  our  shirtsleeves  to  the  shoulders,  and  then  held  our  naked 
arms  under  the  blue  and  sunlight ;  in  three  days  thereafter, 
having  taken  each  day  one  of  these  sun-baths  for  30  minutes 
on  our  arms,  the  pains  in  them  ceased,  and  we  have  not  had 
any  return  of  them  since — we  are  cured." 

It  is  now  more  than  two  years  since  the  date  of  my  visit  to 
these  officers.  Two  months  ago  General  S.  told  me  that  he 
had  not  had  any  return  of  the  rheumatism,  nor  did  he  think 
that  General  D.  had  had  any — General  S.  in  the  meantime  had 
been  exposed  to  every  vicissitude  of  climate,  from  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  to  Washington  Territory,  on  the  Pacific,  and  from  the 
49th  degree  of  north  latitude  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  General 
D.  was  then  stationed  in  the  far  i^orth. 

In  the  beginning  of  March,  1873,  I  was  called  upon  by  Mr. 
Henry  H,  Holloway,  a  very  respectable  gentleman,  doing  busi 
ness  in  this  city  as  a  bookseller,  who  came  to  consult  me  on 
the  subject  of  his  mother's  illness,  and  to  ask  my  opinion  in 
regard  to  the  propriety  of  using  blue  and  sunlight  baths  in 
ber  case.  He  stated  that  his  mother  had  been  confined  to  her 
bed  for  more  than  two  months,  and  that  she  was  suffering  ex- 
cruciating pains  in  her  head,  spine  and  other  parts  of  her  body ; 
that  sbe  could  not  bear  to  be  moved  in  bed;  that  she  could  not 
sleep,  and  having  no  appetite,  she  was  rapidly  wasting  away 
in  flesh  and  strength ;  that  her  physician  had  not  been  able  to 
make  any  impression  upon  her  malady,  and  that  the  family 
were  in  despair  lest  she  should  die ;  that  its  members  had  been 
summoned  to  her  bedside  that  afternoon  to  see  her  probably 
for  the  last  time,  and  if  I  thought  that  these  blue  and  sunlight 
baths  would  relieve  his  mother,  he  wished  to  have  them  tried. 
From  his  account  it  was  evident  that  her  situation  was  criti- 
cal, and  that  there  was  a  serious  disturbance  of  the  electrical 
equilibrium  in  ber  system ;  I  told  him  very  frankly  that  I 
thought  his  mother  could  be  greatly  benefited  by  the  use  of  the 
said  baths  of  light,  and  I  informed  him  how  and  how  often 
these  baths  of  light  should  be  administered.  He  expressed 
himself  much  gratified  by  my  explanations  and  said,  that  he 
would  urge  his  mother  and  her  physician  to  give  them  a  fair 
trial.  I  received  from  him  subsequently  a  letter,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  copy,  viz  : 

"PHILADELPHIA,  April  14th,  1873. 
"To  General  A.  J.  Pleasonton. 

"DEAR  SIR  : — Knowing  that  you  have  been  assiduously  inves- 


16 

tigating  the  curative  properties  of  blue  light  (for  human 
diseases)  for  several  years  past,  a  feeling  of  gratitude  prompts 
me  to  take  the  liberty  of  communicating  a  few  facts  that  may 
be  of  some  interest  to  you. 

"About  six  weeks  since  I  heard  you  explaining  to  an  ac- 
quaintance of  yours,  the  way  in  which  blue  light  should  be 
arranged  in  windows,  so  as  to  take  sun-baths  thereby.  In 
enumerating  the  classes  of  invalids  that  would  be  benefited 
by  such  baths,  you  mentioned  those  afflicted  with  spiuous  or 
nervous  diseases. 

"  I  was  an  interested  auditor ;  for  my  mother,  Margaret  C. 
Holloway,  residing  in  Chesterfield  township,  Burlington 
county,  New  Jersey,  had  then  been  confined  to  her  bed  for 
about  two  months,  her  entire  nervous  system  being  appar- 
ently incurably  affected.  It  was  probably  a  regular  consump- 
tion of  the  nerves.  She  appeared  to  be  wasting  away  very 
rapidly,  and  we  had  but  little,  if  any,  hope  of  her  recovery. 

"At  my  request,  after  first  obtaining  the  full  consent  of  her- 
self and  the  attending  physician,  blue  window  lights  (pur- 
•d  from  French,  Richards  &  Co.,  of  this  city,)  were  suita- 
bly arranged  in  the  west  windows  of  her  room,  the  east  win- 
dows being  too  much  shaded  by  trees  to  admit  the  light  pro- 
perly. During  the  tirst  week  thereafter,  the  weather  was  so 
unfavorable  that  only  one  sun-bath  could  be  taken  ;  but  the 
next  week,  three  or  four  were  taken  on  consecutive  days. 

"From  the  commencement  of  her  sickness,  she  had  not  been 
able  to  sit  up  more  than  a  few  minutes  each  day,  just  while 
the  nurse  made  the  bed;  but  in  a  few  days  after  the  several 
sun-baths  were  taken  in  succession,  she  surprised  the  entire 
family  by  getting  up  and  dressing  herself  while  they  were  at 
breakfast.  She  probably  over-exerted  herself  as  she  was  not 
11  for  two  or  three  days  thereafter.  However,  she  con- 
tinued to  improve  very  rapidly,  and  has  now  almost  or  entirely 
regained  her  usual  health. 

"• 1  may  just  here  state  the  most  important  perceptible  effects 
of  the  sun-bath. 

"  Durii  of  the  time  of  her  illness,  mother  suffered 

from  ;«n  ;  :>ain  in  the  upper  part  of  the  spine  and  in  her 

head,  and  the  galvanic  battery  had  been  frequently  and  regu- 
larly used  in  the  hope  of  mitigating  it.  The  sun-baths  re- 
lieved this  pain  very  materially;  and  also  induced  a  profuse 


17 

perspiration  that  relieved  the  interior  organs  from  their  ob- 
structions, and  which  relief  medicines,  as  well  as  the  galvanic 
battory,  had  failed  to  produce. 

"  These  are  the  important  facts  in  the  case. 

"The  attending  physician  would  probably  maintain  that  the 
remedial  virtue  was  mainly  or  altogether  in  his  medicines,  but 
the  circumstances  are  such  as  to  induce  the  belief  that  mother's 
speedy  recovery  was  in  a  great  degree  attributable  to  the  cura- 
tive properties  of  the  blue  glass,  lam  so  fully  convinced  of 
this  that  I  shall  hereafter  use  the  glass  in  a  similar  way,  in  all 
cases  of  protracted  sickness  in  my  own  family,  whenever  prac- 
ticable. 

"Very  respectfully  yours,  &c., 

"HENKY  H.  IIO.LLOWAY, 
"  No.  5  South  Tenth  street,  Philadelphia,  Pa." 

This  lady  soon  afterwards  recovered  her  usual  good  health, 
and  on  its  re-establishment,  she  made  several  visits  to  her  sons 
residing  here.  In  two  of  these  visits,  I  had  the  pleasure  to 
see  her.  In  one  of  the  interviews  that  I  had  with  her,  she 
told  me  that  for  two  years  prior  to  the  use  of  these  baths  of 
light  she  had  had  no  perceptible  perspiration,  but  that  after  the 
third  of  these  light  baths,  a  most  copious  perspiration  broke 
out  all  over  her  person,  but  particularly  profuse  on  her  neck 
and  shoulders,  and  that  she  had  called  her  daughter  to  witness 
it,  who  scraped  it  with  her  hands  from  her  neck  and  shoulders  as 
a  groom  does  from  a  horse  that  has  been  hard  driven  or  ridden 
in  summer.  She  dates  her  recovery  from  the  restoration  of 
her  power  to  perspire,  which  she  attributed  to  the  effect  of  the 
associated  sun  and  blue  lights. 

I  addressed  a  note  to  the  attending  physician  in  this  case, 
asking  from  him  a  statement  of  the  case,  with  its  diagnosis,  &c. 
From  his  reply  I  make  the  following  extract,  viz :  "  Mrs.  H. 
had  been  sick  some  two  or  three  weeks  with  excessive  spinal 
iritation  amounting  to  partial  paralysis  of  the  right  side,  with 
intense  neuralgia  from  the  occiput  down  to  the  foot,  including 
the  right  arm.  This  condition  was  greatly  improved  before 
the  blue  glass  was  used.  She  was  almost  free  from  pain,  but 
nervous  iritation  remaining  at  this  time  I  made  use  of  the 
galvanic  battery,  which  she  thought  done  her  a  great  deal  of 
good.  . 


18 

"I  think  it  was  some  two  or  three  days  after  that,  the  blue 
light  was  used.  She  says  that  she  took  it  about  twelve  times 
altogether,  from  a  quarter  to  a  half  hour  each  time. 

"  You  can  draw  your  own  conclusion,  if  there  was  any  benefit 
derived  from  blue  light. 

••  My  dear  sir,  I  would  not  have  you  imagine  that  I  do  not 
have  any  faith  in  your  theory,  for  I  confidently  believe  that  it 
has  a  most  powerful  influence,  both  on  the  animal  and  vegeta- 
ble kingdoms. 

"  I  should  like,  at  some  future  period,  to  give  it  a  fair  trial ; 
consequently,  if  it  would  not  be  encroaching  too  much  on  your 
time,  I  should  like  very  much  to  hear  from  you  in  regard  to 
your  experience  of  its  application  and  result,  the  manner  and 
mode  by  which  it  may  be  used,  and  should  there  be  any 
benefit  derived  by  its  use,  I  would  most  cheerfully  transmit 
that  fact  to  you. 

"  Respectfully  yours, 

"  J.  G.  L.  WHITEHEAD. 

"  CROSSWICKS,  April  8d,  1873." 

I  have  introduced  here  the  extract  from  the  letter  of  Dr. 
Whitehead  merely  to  show  the  desperate  condition  of  his 
patient,  her  agonizing  suffering,  and  the  well  founded  appre- 
hensions of  the  patient's  family — that  the  situation  of  the 
patient  was  extremely  critical,  and  fully  justified  the  use  even 
of  experiment  with  a  new  practice,  in  the  attempt  to  relieve 
her.  When  they  saw  that  the  expedients  resorted  to  during 
her  long  sickness  had  failed  to  produce  the  desired  results,  Dr. 
AVhitehead,  himself,  is  stated  by  Mr.  Ilolloway  to  have  given 
his  full  consent  to  have  the  experiment  with  the  blue  light 
made  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Ilolloway,  she  also  desiring  it,  which 
is  conclusive  that  she  had  not  been  so  much  benefited  by  his 
treatment  of  her  as  to  wish  to  continue  it  longer,  and  that  he 
vas  in  doubt  as  to  its  efficacy  from  the  adoption  of  another 

About  this  time,  Mr.  II.  II.  Ilolloway,  the  gentleman  whose 
moth  iveii  above,  being  a  great  sufferer  from  rheu- 

matism, from    which    he    had    been    unable    to   obtain  relief, 
nirifd   to  try  in  his  own  person  the  efficacy  of  the  sun 
ami   blue   light   hath,  and  at't«T  having  tested  it  to  his  entire 
n,  addressed  me  a  letter,  as  follows,  viz: 


"  Gen.  A.  J.  Pleasonton. 


19 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  October  17th,  1873. 


"  DEAR  SIR:  —  In  the  spring  of  1872,  1  was  afflicted  with  the 
rheumatism  (sciatica,)  for  nearly  two  months,  and  I  suffered 
from  a  recurrence  of  the  same,  at  intervals,  until  last  spring. 
At  that  time  the  surprising  effect  which  your  blue  glass  sun- 
baths  produced  in  restoring  my  mother  to  health  (an  account 
of  which  I  sent  you  a  few  months  since,)  induced  me  to  try 
the  same  for  the  rheumatism. 

"  I  took  three  or  four  such  baths  of  sun  and  blue  light,  in 
accordance  with  your  directions,  and  have  had  no  returns  of 
the  rheumatism  since,  although  six  months  have  now  elapsed; 
and  I  have  been  much  exposed  in  stormy  weather.  My  limbs 
have  been  a  little  stiff,  but  without  pain,  two  or  three  times 
during  long  continued  storms,  which  was  probably  owing  to 
the  mercury  contained  in  the  drugs  taken  by  me,  when  first 
attacked  in  1872. 

"I  have  deferred  writing  to  you  on  the  subject  for  several 
months,  so  that  sufficient  time  might  elapse  to  be  sure  of  the 
permanence  of  the  effect  of  the  blue  glass  sunbaths. 

"  I  am  fully  confident  that  a  fair  trial  of  said  sunbaths  will 
seldom  if  ever  fail  to  cure  the  rheumatism,  and  I  wish  that  so 
simple  and  inexpensive  a  curative  agent  may  speedily  become 
popularized. 

"Very  respectfully, 

"HENRY  H.  HOLLOWAY. 

"  No.  5  South  10th  street,  Phila." 

In  the  further  consideration  of  this  subject,  I  introduce  here 
Borne  extracts  from  a  letter  received  from  Dr.  Robert  Rohland, 
a  distinguished  physician  residing  in  New  York. 


YORK,  July  23th,  1873. 
"  General  A.  J.  Pleasonton. 

"  SIR  :  —  Dr.  McL.  told  me,  three  days  since,  that  you  had 
written  to  him  about  a  new  edition  of  your  highly  interesting 
pamphlet  on  blue  light  that  you  were  preparing,  that  would 
contain  additional  results  that  you  had  obtained  in  your  experi- 
ments with  blue  light  as  a  healing  power.  I  can  readily 
believe  in  its  efficacy,  and  I  very  much  regret  that  I  have  been 
unable  to  continue  my  own  experiments  in  the  same  direction, 
by  which  many  new  facts  would  have  been  developed  in  all 


20 

likelihood  to  the  great  benefit  of  suffering  humanity.  Bo  tliat 
as  it  may,  you  deserve  the  warmest  thanks  for  having  extended 
your  experiments  so  far,  making  the  professional  physicians  to 
feel  ashamed  that  none  of  them  thought  it  worth  their  while 
to  draw  practical  consequences  from  your  experiments  in  the 
development  of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  As  the  effect  of 
blue  light  is  identical  with  tod-force'  it  might  be  of  interest 
•  u  to  hear  of  some  surprising  phenomena  produced  on 
sensitive  persons  in  connection  with  blue  light  and  corrobora- 
ting the  results  of'od-force'  and  '  odified  preparations. ' 

"  1.  Compare  with  your  results  of  the  blue  light  on  the  Alder- 
ney  bull  calf  the  statement  of  Dr.  Henry  B.  Ileind,  page  36  of 
my  pamphlet  on  '  od- -force,'  case  No.  17,  and  you  will  find  the 
similar  surprising  growth  of  babies,  by  using  my  '  od-magnetic 
sugar  of  milk.' 

••_.  I  exposed,  about  a  year  ago,  a  man  suffering  with  severe 
rheumatism  to  the.  influence  of  the  blue  light  through  two 
glass  panes.  He  felt,  after  fifteen  minutes,  much  relieved,  and 
could  move  about  without  pains,  but  complained  of  a  nasty 
on  his  tongue.  The  same  happened  to  a  friend 
who  visited  me  during  odo-magneli/ing  sugar  of  milk,  when 
I  placed  his  hand  in  the  blue  and  violet  rays  of  the  prism. 

"Dr.  Hardis,  assistant  physician  of  Dr.  E.  B.  Foote,  has  the 
same  metallic  (copper)  taste,  whenever  he  takes  some  of  my 
odo-magnetic  sugar  of  milk,  on  his  tongue;  also  Dr.  Fincke,  a 
highly  educated  and  reliable  physician  in  Brooklyn,  who  ex- 
perimented a  great  deal  with  od-force  produced  by  the  blue 
and  violet  rays  of  the  prism,  and  who  placed  the  hand  of  a 
man  within  these  rays,  and  the  latter  complained  of  having  a 
like  verdigris  on  his  tongue. 

••These  examples  show  that  the  blue  and  violet  light  and  the 
od-force  generated  in  this  way  are  of  an  electric  positive  nature  ; 
and  it  is  very  much  to  be  regretted  that  Professor  Von  Reichcn- 
bach  reversed  the  poles,  and,  in  his  works,  calls  this  pole, 
which  is  analogical  in  its  effects  to  the  positive  pole  of  any  elec- 
tric 01  : •"-magnetic  apparatus,  the  '  odic-negative  one,' 
by  that  uselessly  an  unavoidable  confusion." 

In    the   laiter  part  ••!'  March,  1874,  I  received  a  letter  from 
Meral  Charles   W.   Sanford,  late  the  commander  of 
national  <  luard  of  the  city  of  New  York,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  copy : 


21 

"  462  West  Twenty-Second  street,      \ 
"  NEW  YORK,  March  29th,  1874.  / 

"To  Major-  General  Pleasonton, 

"  918  Spruce  street,  Phila.,  Pa. 

"  GENERAL  :  —  Will  you  oblige  me  with  a  copy  of  your  pam- 
phlet upon  the  use  of  blue  glass  ?  I  had  some  time  since  an 
opportunity  to  read  it,  and  having  an  invalid  daughter,  her 
physician  was  induced  to  try  the  experiment  of  having  blue 
glass  inserted  in  her  windows.  She  has  been  materially  bene- 
fited by  its  use,  and  I  am  anxious  to  investigate  the  subject. 

"  She  has  also  a  number  of  plants  in  her  sitting-room,  which 
have  grown  and  nourished  in  an  extraordinary  manner  under 
its  influence.  I  am,  General,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"CHARLES  W.  SANFORD." 

Extract  from  a  letter  of  Dr.  Robert  Rohland,  of  New  York, 
received  by  me  in  June,  1874. 


YORK,  June  28,  1874. 
"To  General  A.  J.  Pleasonton, 

"  Philadelphia. 

"SiR:  —  .....  Several  gentlemen  have  made  some 
experiments  with  blue  light  under  my  direction,  with  very 
favourable  results,  especially  Dr.  L.  Fisher,  in  a  case  of  general 
debility  and  exhaustion,  and  Dr.  McLaury,  in  a  case  of  very 
troublesome  tumor. 

"  Very  respectfully  yours,  truly, 

"DR.  ROBERT  ROHLAND." 

Extract  from  a  letter  of  Dr.  Wm.  M.  McLaury,  of  New 
York,  received  by  me  in  August,  1874. 

"  To  General  Pleasonton,  Phila. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  —  Understanding  through  Dr.  R.  Rohland  that 
you  are  about  to  publish  a  new  edition  of  your  article  on  the 
blue  ray,  with  some  additional  matter,  I  suppose  that  you 
would  like  to  hear  of  my  experience  therewith. 

"  I  regret  to  state  that  my  experience  is  as  yet  very  limited, 
but  I  have  great  hopes  that  by  extensive  experiments,  with 
careful  observation,  we  will  yet  find  it  to  be  an  important 
agent  in  combating  disease. 


.....  "  In  a  little  girl,  one  month  old,  was  found  a 
hard  resisting  tumour  about  the  size  of  a  robin's  egg,  in  the 
sub-maxillary  region  of  the  left  side.  I  had  it  placed  in  such 
a  position  thai  tin1  rays  of  light  through  a  blue  glass  should 
impinge  upon  it  one  hour,  at  least,  each  day.  This  tumefac- 
tion disappeared  entirely  within  forty  days. 

"  The  child  lias  developed  astonishingly  ;  is  now  seven 
months  old  ;  is  exceedingly  bright  and  happy  ;  has  not  known 
an  hour's  sickness  or  discomfort.  Its  peculiar  freedom  from 
infantile  ills  I  attribute,  at  least  in  some  degree,  to  the  influence 
of  the  blue  light. 

"  With  great  respect,  yours, 

«  WM.  M.  McL  AURY. 
"  NEW  YORK  CITY,  August  20*/t,  1874." 

Some  time  since,  Mrs.  C.,  the  wife  of  Major-General  C.,  a 
distinguished  officer  of  the  United  States  regular  army,  told 
me  that  one  of  her  grandchildren,  a  little  boy  about  eighteen 
months  old,  had  from  his  birth  had  so  little  use  of  his  legs 
that  he  could  neither  crawl  nor  walk,  and  was  apparently  so 
enfeebled  in  those  limbs  that  she  began  to  fear  that  the  child 
was  permanently  paralyzed  in  them. 

To  obviate  such  an  affliction,  she  requested  the  mother  of 
the  child  to  send  him,  with  his  two  young  sisters,  to  play  in 
the  entry  of  the  second  story  of  her  house,  where  she  hud 
fitted  up  a  window  with  blue  and  plain  glass  in  equal  propor- 
tions. The  children  were  accordingly  brought  there  and  were 
allowed  to  play  for  several  bourn  in  this  large  entry  or  hall 
under  the  mixed  sun  and  blue  light.  In  a  very  few  days,  Mrs. 
C  -  told  me  that  the  child  manifested  great  improvement 
in  the  strength  of  its  limbs,  having  learned  to  climb  by  a 
chair,  to  crawl  and  to  walk,  and  that  he  was  then  as  promising 
a  child  as  any  one  is  likely  to  see. 

In  ie   of  the  child,  whose  premature  birth  occured 

at  the  naval  station  at  Mound  City,  in  Illinois,  Commodore 
Gfaldsborough  was  informed  by  its  mother,  a  short  time  since, 
that  it  had  continued  to  improve  in  health,  si/e  and  vigour, 
iimodore  had  last  seen  it,  and  that  it  was  then  a 
perfect  specimen  of  infantile  development. 


»f  this  child,  de-cribed  b\-  Commodore  (Jolds- 
borough,  ifi  a  very  remarkable  one,  for,  having  been  prema- 
turely bom.  it  may  be  presumed  that  its  organization  was  not 


23 

as  completely  developed  us  it  would  have  been  had  it,  fulfilled 
the  entire  period  of  its  gestation — and  consequently  it  would 
seem  that  the  association  of  the  blue  and  sun  light  had  re- 
paired all  the  deficiencies  in  its  organisms  existing  at  its  birth. 

We  have,  in  these  instances  that  I  have  advanced,  mani- 
festations of  the  remarkable  variety  of  powers  as  developed  in 
the  several  cases,  all  differing  from  each  other  in  their  various 
disorders,  and  all  having  been  restored  to  their  normal  condi- 
tion of  health  and  vigour  ;  and,  in  some  instances,  having  had 
that  condition  increased  and  intensified. 

We  have  had  moribund  flowering  plants,  not  only  arrested 
in  their  course  of  decay,  but  reinvigourated,  and  their  beauti- 
ful tints  of  colour  greatly  improved. 

We  have  had  branches  of  a  tropical  fruit  tree,  that  were 
exposed  to  the  action  of  blue  light,  made  highly  fruitful,  while 
others  of  the  same  tree,  not  similarly  exposed,  bore  no  fruit, 
and  were  feeble  and  apparently  unhealthy. 

We  have  an  immature  infant  child,  defective  in  its  develop- 
ments at  its  birth,  made  perfect  in  its  parts,  and  strengthened 
so  as  to  become  a  striking  instance  of  infantile  health,  vigour 
and  beauty. 

We  have  had  in  another  infant  child,  only  one  month  old, 
an  obstinate  tumour  to  be  absorbed,  and  a  degree  of  bodily 
vigour  imparted  to  it  that  defied  the  attacks  of  all  infantile 
disorders  after  the  tumour  had  disappeared. 

We  have  had  poultry  of  the  same  variety,  hatched  on  the 
same  day,  presenting  such  different  stages  of  advanced 
development,  after  the  lapse  of  the  same  period  of  time,  to 
those  of  similar  poultry  reared  in  the  common  way,  that 
incredulity  must  yield  to  well  established  fact,  and  surprise 
give  way  to  conviction. 

We  have  had  the  vocal  powers  of  a  singing  bird,  that  had 
ceased  to  sing,  again  excited,  and  its  musical  tones  again 
poured  forth  with  greater  force,  richness  and  beauty  than  it 
had  before  ever  displayed,  to  the  delight  of  all  who  have  heard 

it. 

The  deaf  has  been  made  to  hear :  in  a  domestic  animal, 
the  mule,  which  for  nearly  ten  years,  and  perhaps  longer,  had 
heard  not  at  all ;  and  the  stifihess  of  his  limbs  with  rheuma- 


24 

tism  has  given  way  to  the  natural  elasticity  of  his  normal 
condition  of  health.  Under  this  most  potent  influence,  lambs 
that  may  be  used  for  the  food  and  clothing  of  man,  have  been 
so  greatly  developed  in  so  short  a  time  that  we  may  reasona- 
bly hope  that  the  rearing  of  domestic  animals  for  food  may  be 
so  largely  extended  and  improved,  that  immense  numbers  of 
mankind  who,  from  the  costliness  of  such  food  heretofore, 
had  never  tasted  it,  may,  in  the  near  future,  be  no  longer  de- 
prived of  the  use  of  this  most  stimulating  and  nourishing 
article  of  flesh  diet. 

But  the  greatest  value  of  this  application  of  blue  light,  will 
be  found  to  be  in  its  curative  power  in  human  and  animal  dis- 

orders of  health. 

In  the  eases  before  quoted  in  the  human  family,  rheumatism, 
both  chronic  and  acute,  neuralgia,  with  its  accompaniment  of 
partial  paralysis  and  various  other  complications,  torpor  of  the 
lower  extremities  of  a  child,  nearly  amounting  to  paralysis, 
all  yielded  to  the  application  of  these  vital  forces  of  light. 
May  we  not  congratulate  mankind  on  the  blessings  which  this 
discovery  foreshadows  ? 

For  cerebral  disorders,  from  softening  of  the  brain  to  con- 
firmed insanity,  I  would  respectfully  suggest  to  the  medical  pro- 
fession full  trials  of  the  blue  and  sunlight  baths,  to  be  taken 
by  their  patients  at  least  once  in  every  twenty-four  hours  on  the 
naked  spine  and  back  of  the  head.  Should  they  succeed  in 
•'•'ing  the  disorders  of  the  brain,  we  may,  in  the  near 
future,  be  relieved  of  the  cost  of  building  additional  lunatic 
asylums,  and  insanity  may  be  classed  as  a  curable  disease. 

While   this   edition  was   being   put   through   the    press,    I 
received  the  following  communication  and  its  enclosure  from 

••rt    Kohland,  a    distinguished   scientist,    resident    in 
York  : 

209  THIRD  AVKNCK.  Xi:w  YORK.  ) 

j" 


'J67A,  1874. 
.  A.  .1.  '  ox. 

•'/•;  —  Vuth  my  warmest   thanks  for  your  last   kind 
the  pleasure  to  send  you  enclosed,  at  last, 
1'r.    Fisher's  patient;   and  am  still  in  hop. 
nn>nth. 

f  my  highest  respect,  and  allow  me 
if,  your  most  obedient  and  irrateful, 

DK.  ROBERT   KUI1LAXD. 


25 

Enclosed  in  the  above,  was  the  following  statement  of  the 
lady  who  had  been  placed  under  the  influence  of  the  associated 
light  of  the  sun  and  the  blue  light  of  the  firmament,  and  the 
blue  rays  eliminated  from  sun-light  transmitted  through  blue 
glass : 

"At  the  request  of  my  attending  physician,  Dr.  Louis 
Fisher,  I  will  state,  as  bru-tlv  as  possible,  the  effects  produced 
upon  me  by  the  transmission  of  the  sun's  rays  through  blue 
glass : 

"  Having  been  an  invalid  for  nearly  three  years,  and  for  the 
last  half  of  that  time  confined  entirely  to  my  rooms  on  one 
floor,  I  became  so  reduced  by  the  long  confinement,  and  my 
nervous  system  seemed  so  completely  broken  down,  that  all 
tonics  lost  their  effects,  sleep  at  nights  could  only  be  obtained 
by  the  use  of  opiates,  appetite,  of  course,  there  was  none,  and 
scarcely  a  vestige  of  color  remained,  either  in  my  lips,  face  or 
hands — as  a  last  resort  I  was  placed,  about  the  19th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1874,  under  the  influence  of  blue  glass  rays.  Two  large 
panes  of  the  glass,  each  36  inches  long  by  16  inches  wide,  were 
placed  in  the  upper  part  of  a  sunny  window  in  my  parlour,  a 
window  with  a  south  exposure,  and  as  the  blue  and  sunlight 
streamed  into  the  room,  I  sat  in  it  continuously — I  was  also 
advised  by  Dr.  Fisher,  to  take  a  regular  sun-bath  of  it;  at 
least  to  let  the  blue  rays  fall  directly  on  the  spine  for  about  20 
or  30  minutes  at  a  time,  morning  and  afternoon ;  but  the 
effects  of  it  were  too  strong  for  me  to  bear;  and  as  I  was  pro- 

§ressing  very  favorably  by  merely  sitting  in  it  in  my  ordinary 
ress,  that  was  considered  sufficient. 

"In  two  or  three  weeks  the  change  began  to  be  very  percep- 
tible. The  colour  began  returning  to  my  face,  lips  and  hands, 
my  nights  became  better,  my  appetite  more  natural,  and  my 
strength  and  vitality  to  return,  while  my  whole  nervous 
system,  was  most  decidedly  strengthened  and  soothed. 

"  In  about  six  weeks,  I  was  allowed  to  try  going  up  and  down 
a  few  stairs  at  a  time,  being  able  to  test  in  that  way  how  the 
strength  was  returning  into  my  limbs,  and  by  the  middle  of 
April,  when  the  spring  was  sufficiently  advanced  to  make  It 
prudent  for  me  to  try  walking  out,  I  was  able  to  do  so. 

"  The  experiment  was  made  a  peculiarly  fair  one  by  the 
stoppage  of  all  tonics,  &c.,  as  soon  as  the  glass  was  placed  in 
the  window,  allowing  me  to  depend  solely  on  the  efficacy  of 
the  blue  light." 


26 

A  distinguished  surgeon  of  this  city,  on  being  made 
acquainted  with  the  remarkable  vivifying  effects  of  this  force, 
in  several  of  the  cases  mentioned  herein,  expressed  to  the 
author,  the  opinion  that  the  vitalizing  influence  of  these  asso- 
ciated colours,  would  probably  be  found  to  eradicate  scrofula, 
and  the  terrible  diseases  which  have  produced  it,  from  the 
human  system — a  result  never  yet  attained  by  any  medical 
treatment  now  known. 

If  this  opinion  should  prove  to  be  well  founded,  why  may 
we  not  anticipate  that  tubercular  consumption  of  the  lungs 
maybe  arrested  in  its  progress,  its  abscesses  absorbed  and  dis- 
persed by  the  purified  blood  taking  up  the  purulent  matter, 
and  either  decomposing  it,  or  eliminating  it  through  the 
various  excreting  channels  of  the  body?* 

If  this  last  mentioned  case  had  furnished  the  only  example 
of  the  restorative  influence  of  blue  light  upon  disordered  health, 
it  should  awaken  in  the  medical  profession,  throughout  the 
world,  a  desire  to  investigate  the  causes  and  sources  of  that 
force  which  had  produced  such  marvelous  effects. 

Let  us  attempt  a  solution.  The  juxtaposition  of  plain 
tmcoloured  glass  and  blue  glass  in  the  passage  of  sunlight, 
and  the  transmitted  blue  light  of  the  firmament,  and  the 
eliminated  blue  rays  of  the  sun-light  through  them  respectively, 
evolves  an  electro-magnetic  current,  which  imparts  to  vegeta- 
ble or  animal  life  subjected  to  it,  an  extraordinary  impulse  to 
the  developemcnt  of  their  respective  vigour  and  growth. 
Thi-ir  vitality  is  strengthened  so  as  to  resist  disease,  and  to 
throw  it  off  in  tin >.-,.•  instances  in  which  it  had  appeared  before 
having  been  subjected  to  its  power. 

*  A  friend  of  mini-  luis  sent  me  the  following  notice,  viz: 

••  I.;  The  author  of   "Life    I'mler  Class,"  sends  to  the 

'.  a  letter  giving  some  curious  results  of  his  experience  in  the 

coloured  •  'Medium  for  the  transmission  of  the  sun's  rays  in  the 

of  lung  di-ea>e.    'I'ln-  writer  <>f  the  communication,  being  himself  a 

victim  to  \\eak   :  al  attention  to  the  subject,  from  personal  as  well 

a^  prote— iunal  interest.     His  attention  was  directed  to  the  matter  by  an  accident 
in  his  own    experience.      Durim:   the   autumn    of    1st1,;!,   he  was  borne  on  "sick 
from  the  army,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  frequenting  the  photograph  gallery 
of  a  friend.     Tl,  >  com  of  the  gallery  was  lighted  by  a  skylight  of  litiht 

ated  of  the  same  colour,    lie.  soon' noticed,  that 

r  after  ;m  hour  or  two  passed  in  the  gallery,  and  he  was 

firmly  convinced  that  Ilie  beneficial  effect  was  largely  due  to  bllle'light.  After 
the  war,  he  II.-IMU  a  scries  of  experiments  aiiioni:  hi-  patients  by  using  blue 
•he  liylit  trom  pure  blue  glass  is  not  entirely  agreeable  to  the  eye,  he 
alternated  the  pane.,  -lVjth  clear  glass.  This  was  an  Improvement,  and  he  Went 
on  with  his  experiment  until  he  attained  the  highest  sanitary  power  in  a  purple 
or  light  violet  colour,  the  red,  iu  the  stain. ng,  making  the  light  pleasant  to  bear. 


27 

The  velocity  of  light  on  the  earth's  surface  has  been  found 
by  Leon  Foucault,  by  experiments  most  carefully  conducted, 
to  be  298,000  kilometres  or  186,000  miles  per  second  of  time — 
now  of  the  seven  primary  rays  of  light,  all  of  them  excepting 
the  blue  ray  and  possibly  its  compounds,  purple,  indigo  and 
violet,  which  perhaps  are  decomposed,  and  the  blue  ray 
liberated,  are  suddenly  arrested  in  their  marvelously  rapid 
course,  on  coming  in  contractwith  the  blue  glass.  This  sudden 
impact  of  the  intercepted  rays  on  the  outer  surface  of  the  blue 
glass  with  this  inconceivable  speed,  produces  a  large  amount 
of  friction.  Light,  though  imponderable,  yet  is  material,  since 
according  to  the  book  of  Genesis,  God  said,  "Let  light  be  made, 
and  it  was  made" — and  the  movement  of  matter  upon  matter, 
always  produces  friction.  By  friction  electricity  is  evolved,  and 
when  opposite  electricities  meet  in  conjunction,  their  conflict 
according  to  the  celebrated  Danish  philosopher,  Oersted,  develops 
magnetism.  The  electricity  produced  by  this  friction  is 
negative,  while  the  electrical  condition  of  the  glass  is  opposite, 
or  positive,  and  heat  is  therefore  also  evolved  by  their  conjunc- 
tion. This  heat  sufficiently  expands  the  pores  of  the  glass  to 
pass  through  it — and  then  you  have  within  the  apartment,  elec- 
tricity, magnetism,  light  and  heat — all  essential  elements]of  vital 
force.  "Without  light  and  heat,  life  cannot  exist,  and  electricity 
and  magnetism  are  indispensable  to  its  active  vitality.  This 
current  of  electro-magnetism,  when  allowed  to  fall  upon  the 
spinal  column  of  an  animal,  is  conducted  by  its  nerves  to  the 
brain,  and  thence  is  distributed  over  its  whole  nervous  system, 
imparting  vigour  to  all  the  organs  of  the  body,  and  stimu- 
lating them  into  active  exercise :  hence  follows  restoration  to 
health. 

In  the  early  part  cf  the  summer  of  1871,  having  caused  to 
be  printed  an  edition  of  my  memoir  which,  a  short  time  before, 
I  had  read  before  you,  I  distributed  copies  of  it  among  literary 
and  scientific  institutions,  and  to  such  persons  of  culture  as 
were  likely  to  be  interested  in  the  investigation  of  the  subjects 
treated  of  in  it.  Having  sent  several  copies  to  Washington 
city,  I  received  from  my  friends  there  suggestions  to  take  out 
Letters  Patent  from  the  Government  of  the  United  States  for 
my  new  discovery,  which  they  deemed  to  be  of  the  highest 
importance.  Accordingly,  I  made  an  application  to  the  Com- 
missioner of  Patents  for  the  issue  of  Letters  Patent  thereon. 
When  the  application  was  received  at  the  Patent  Office,  the 
novelty  of  its  character,  and  the  wonderful  results  of  the  ex- 
periments on  which  the  application  had  been  based,  excited 


28 

the  greatest  surprise  and  interest  among  the  officers  of  the 
Bureau  of  Patents.  The  application  was  referred  by  the 
Commissioner  to  the  Examiner-in-chief  of  the  class  of  Chemis- 
try, who,  utter  a  full  examination  of  the  whole  subject,  as  I  was 
informed,  reported  favourably  upon  the  application  and  recom- 
mended the  issue  of  Letters  Patent.  At  this  stage  of  the 
proceeding,  the  Commissioner  was  visited  by  the  Examiner-in- 
chicf  of  the  class  of  Agriculture,  Professor  I.  Brainerd,  of 
Ohio,  a  very  distinguished  scientific  gentleman,  who  suggested 
to  the  Commissioner  that  the  application  had  received  a  wrong 
reference;  that  it  should  have  been  referred  to  him  as  it  con- 
cerned plants  and  animals,  which  were  intimately  associated 
with  the  class  of  Agriculture  under  his  charge.  The  Commis- 
sioner replied,  that  it  concerned,  also,  Chemistry;  but  if  he, 
Professor  Brainerd,  desired  to  investigate  the  subject,  the 

of  the  Letters  Patent  should  be  suspended  till  that  oppor- 
tunity was  afforded  him — which  was  done.  I  was  thereupon 
informed  of  it,  and  that  the  Commissioner,  in  view  of  the 
great  importanee  of  the  application,  and  of  the  novelty  of  the 
principle-  involved  in  it,  was  desirous,  before  proceeding 
further  in  the  issue  of  the  Letters  Patent,  to  send  to  my  farm 
in  this  vicinity.  Professor  Brainerd,  who,  with  my  permission, 
would  examine  into  the  manner  in  which  my  experiments  had 

'•ondueted,  and  particularly  investigate  the  whole  subject 
of  the  application.  On  the  receipt  of  this  communication,  I 
wrote  to  the  Commissioner  of  Patents,  and  informed  him  that 
I  would  be  very  glad  10  receive  Professor  Brainerd,  and  to  give 
him  every  information  and  afford  him  every  facility  for  making 
hi-  investigation  in  my  power. 

A  few  days  thereafter,  the  Professor  arrived  at  my  house  in 

Spruce    street;    and,  on  presenting  himself  to  me,    he  said: 

i   must  receive  this  visit  of  mine  as  a  very  high 

compliment,  sine.;  the  Commissioner  of  Patents,  in  extremely 

-,  ever  sends  any  one  from  the  office  for  information 

in  relation  to  an  application   fora   Patent;  for  he  requires  all 

such  information  to  lie  brought  to  him.      lie   has,  however,  in 

ted  from  his  usual  course, from  the  great  interest 

:r  alleged  discovery,  and  has   scut  me,  therefore, 

to  make  ;  j;ition.      For  myself,  I  \vill   say, 

>  prejudice  for  or  against  the  principles  announced 

•tartling  memoir,  and  I   come  to  you  to  make  a  fair, 

,d    impartial    examination  of  the  whole    matter.     If 

your    averment.-.  ;.;,il    l>e    sustained    after    I   shr.ll 

examined  the  subject,  I  will  report  favourably  upon  your 


29 

application,  and  your  Letters  Patent  will  be  issued  forthwith. 
Should  I,  however,  have  any  doubts  in  the  matter  I  will  report 
against  their  issue,  and  you  will  not  get  your  Patent."     To 
this  I  replied,  "That  the  facts  in  the  case  must  furnish  their 
own  evidence,  and  I  was   perfectly  satisfied  to  abide  by  his 
j  udgment  thereon,  whatever  it  might  be."     We  then  proceeded 
to  my  farm,  where  the  professor  remained  three  days,  devoting 
himself  to  a  critical  examination  of  the  subjects  committed  to 
him  for  investigation.     On  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day  we 
visited  the  grapery,  as  he  had  often  done  before,  where  we 
met  three  professors  of  colleges,  who,  attracted  by  the  notices 
of  the  experiments  which  they  had  seen  in  the  newspapers, 
had  come  to  the  farm  to  verify  for  themselves  the  statements 
they  had  read.     For  purposes  of  ventilation  in  the  grapery,  I 
had  caused  to  be  removed  from  immediately  below  the  eaves 
on  the  southeastern  side  thereof,  for  the  whole  length  of  the 
house,  two  panes  of  glass  in  width;  and  in  their  places  I  had  in- 
troduced galvanized  iron  wire  cloth,  with  meshes  of  about  one 
quarter  of  an  inch  square.     The  vines  planted  on  the  outside 
border,  and  trained  through  terra-cotta  pipes  into  the  grapery, 
along  its  walls  of  glass,  and  up  to  the  ridge  on  the  southeastern 
side  of  the  grapery  had,  when  they  reached  this  wire  cloth, 
in  their  growth  on  the  inside,  sent  lateral  branches  through 
its    meshes  into  the  outer  air,  which  had  grown  to  varying 
lengths  often,  twelve  or  fourteen  feet  on  the  outside  of  the 
grapery.     These  lateral  branches  were  covered  with  foliage — 
the   inside   branches  from  the  same    stems  extending  to  the 
ridge  were  likewise  covered  with  the  densest  foliage;  but  the 
difference  between  the  inside  and  outside    foliage  was  most 
distinctly   marked.     The  inside   leaves,  from  the   same  roots 
which  furnished  those  on  the  outside,  were  fully  six  or  eight 
inches  respectively  in  diameter,  of  the  deepest  green  colour, 
and  so  perfectly  healthy  that  they  seemed  more  like  wax  leaves 
than  natural  ones,  while  those  on  the  outside  of  the  grapery, 
though  abundant,  were  not  more  than  two  inches  in  diameter, 
of  a  pale,  sickly,  yellowish  colour,  indicating  a  feeble  vitality. 
I  called  the  attention  of  Professor  Brainerd  and  of  the  other 
professors   to  this  most   marked  difference  in  the  respective 
leaves  inside  and  outside,  and  they  all  united  in  the  opinion 
that  this  example  furnished  the  most  conclusive  illustration  of 
the  influence  of  blue  light  on  vegetation  that  could  be  produced 
under  any  circumstances.     Here  were  branches  of  vines  from 
the  same  roots,  covered  with  foliage,  deriving  their  nutriment 
from  the  same  sources,  the  outside  leaves  exposed  to  all  the 
influences  of  temperature,  light,  humidity  or  dryness  of  the 


30 

natural  atmosphere,  and  yet,  scarcely  one-fourth  of  the  size  of 
their  relatives — those  on  the  inside  ;  and  indicating  an  enfeebled 
and  transitory  existence.  "While  the  latter,  revelling  in  the 
stimulating  forces  of  the  combined  sunlight  and  blue  light  of 
the  sky,  had  attained  not  merely  size,  but  also  an  exuberance 
of  vigor  which  excited  the  greatest  astonishment.  Professor 
Brainerd  gathered  some  of  the  leaves  from  the  outside  and 
inside  branches  of  the  same  vines,  which  he  took  with  him  to 
the  Patent  Office  to  be  measured  and  photographed.  The 
other  professors  did  likewise  to  exhibit  to  their  respective 
classes. 

When  Professor  Brainerd  had  completed  his  examination, 
and  was  prepared  to  return  to  Washington,  he  said  to  me, 
"  General,  everything  that  you  have  alleged  on  this  subject  of 
blue  light  is  coniirmed  ;  I  am  perfectly  convinced  of  their 
truth.  On  my  return  to  Washington,  I  will  make  a  most 
favourable  report  on  your  application,  and  your  Letters  Patent 
will  be  issued  forthwith.  I  will  now  say  to  you,  that  before  i 
left  Washington,  the  officers  of  the  Patent  Office  discussed 
among  ourselves  your  application,  and  we  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion, unanimously,  that  if  my  investigation  should  establish 
the  verity  of  your  statements  you  have  made  the  most  import- 
ant discovery  of  this  century,  transcending  in  importance  even 
that  of  Morse's  Telegraph,  which,  at  best,  furnished  only  a 
means  of  communication  with  distant  places,  while  your  dis- 
covery could  be  brought  home  to  every  living  object  on  the 
planet.  We  further  thought  that  your  patent  would  be  one 
of  the  most  valuable  that  had  ever  been  issued  in  the  United 
States.  I  congratulate  you  upon  your  great  discovery." 

The  1'rofessor  accordingly  returned  to  Washington,  made 
hi-  report,  which,  as  he  said  it  would  be,  was  most,  i'avourable; 
ami  Letten  1'atent  for  my  new  process  of  accelerating  the 
growth  of  plants  ami  animals  were  issued  to  me  on  September 
20th,  ]871. 

It    is    to   Moses,   the   lawgiver,    the   great    leader   of   the 

ites  in   their   Ivxodus  from  Egypt,  in  their  passage  across 

tli'-  K'-d  Sea,  and  in  their  subsequent  residence  in  the  desert, 

that  we  are  indebted  for  our  knowledge  of  the  plan  of  the 

in    the    creation    of   the   world.     This    narrative    of 

contained  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  has  been  received 

.iristiaii  and  .lc\vi-h  p.-op].-s,  of  all  nations,  as  a  faithful 

iption  of  the  revelation-  claimed   by    Moses  to  have  been 


31 

made  to  him  by  the  Almighty  himself.  It  is  the  foundation 
of  their  religions — the  basis  on  which  their  spiritual  faiths 
rest. 

Let  us  take  up  this  book  of  Genesis,  and  endeavour  to  dis- 
cover from  it,  illuminated  by  the  developments  of  modem 
science,  what  the  prevailing  idea  of  the  creative  mind  may 
have  been  in  establishing  the  physical  functions  of  the  planet 
on  which  we  live. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  we  read  the  first  four  verses 
as  follows,  viz : 

"1.  In  the  beginning  God  created  heaven  and  earth. 

"  2.  And  the  earth  was  void  and  empty,  and  darkness  was 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  on 
the  waters. 

"  3.  And  God  said,  Be  light  made :  and  light  was  made. 

"4.  And  God  saw  the  light  that  it  was  good,  and  he  divided 
the  light  from  the  darkness." 

From  these  verses,  it  would  appear  that  the  materials  com- 
posing this  planet  were  created  and  assembled  in  darkness, 
and  that  the  first  physical  force  made  was  light — not  heat, 
not  electricity,  not  magnetism — but  light,  which  we  shall 
endeavour  to  show  is  the  almost  omnipotent  force,  which 
produces  them  all,  and  gives  form  and  motion  to  our  plane- 
tary system.  In  the  same  chapter,  in  the  6th  verse,  we  read, 

"  6.  And  God  said ;  Let  there  be  a  firmament  made  amidst 
the  waters,  and  let  it  divide  the  waters  from  the  waters." 

And  in  the  7th  verse,  we  read  as  follows,  viz: 

"  7.  And  God  made  a  firmament,  and  divided  the  waters 
that  were  under  the  firmament  from  those  that  were  above 
the  firmament — and  it  was  so." 

There  is  obscurity  in  this  verse,  since  in  the  following  verse, 
the  8th,  we  read, 

"  8.  God  called  the  firmament  Heaven, — and  the  evening 
and  the  morning  were  the  second  day."  Now  in  the  1st  verse 
it  is  stated,  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  heaven  and 
earth;"  heaven  having  precedence  both  as  to  time  and  place 
in  the  creation.  In  the  8th  verse,  it  would  read  as  if  there 
were  waters  above  the  heaven,  which  were  divided  by  the 


32 

firmament  from  those  that  were  on  the  earth.  We  may 
suppose,  therefore,  the  word  firmament,  used  in  the  7th 
verse,  to  mean  the  atmosphere,  which  was  to  hold  in  sus- 
pension the  waters  contained  in  it  as  vapours,  clouds,  &c., 
thus  separating  them  from  the  waters  on  the  earth,  as  well  as 
the  infinite  spam  above  the  atmosphere,  now  supposed  to 
contain  the  orbits  of  the  fixed  stars.  In  the  9th  verse,  the  dry 
land  appears,  and  the  waters  under  the  heaven  (probably 
atmospnere)  are  gathered  together  and,  in  the  10th  verse,  are 
called  seas,  and  in  the  llth  verse  God  said,  "  11.  Let  the 
earth  bring  forth  the  green  herb,  and  such  as  may  seed,  and 
the  fruit  tree  yielding  fruit  after  its  kind  which  may  have 
seed  in  itself  upon  the  earth,  and  it  was  done. 

"  12.  And    the  earth  brought  forth    the   green   herb,  and 
such  as  yicldeth  SIMM!  according  to  its  kind,  and  the  tree  that 
th  fruit  having  seed,  each  one  according  to  its  kind,  and 
God  saw  that  it  was  good." 

"We  will  hen1  observe,  that  so  far  as  the  order  of  developing 
creation  had  gone,  li^ht  was,  as  yet,  the  only  active  force 
which  had  been  brought  into  existence,  or  as  the  verse 
expressed  it,  '•  and  light  was  made."  Of  course,  it  must 
have  been  made  of  the  materials  which  composed  it.  There 
were,  at  that  period,  no  sun,  no  moon,  and  perhaps  only  the 
fixed  stars,  which  were  to  illuminate  the  heaven,  that  had 
been  created,  and  yet  light,  was  made,  and  it  was  made  of  its 
materials,  and  being  made  its  attributes  were  at  once  called 
into  use.  "  For  the  earth  brought  forth  the  green  herb,  and 
8u.  -h  as  yieldeth  seed  according  to  its  kind,  and  the  tree  that 
beareth  fruit  having  seed,  each  one  according  to  its  kind." 
No  herb  could  have  been  green  without  light,  and  no  tree 
could  have  borne  its  fruit  in  darkness,  nor  could  seed  have 
matured  without  light,  and  yet  this  light  came  neither 
from  the  sun,  nor  the  moon,  modern  spectroscopes  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding,  for  as  yet  neither  the  sun  nor  the  moon 
had  been  created. 

Hence,  we  can   understand    that  the  Creator,  in  directing 
that  light  first  of  all  should   be  made,  intended  to  constitute  a 


Miperior  to  all  other  forces,  for  it  is  by  light  that  they 
1  developed,  ;md  made  auxiliary  to  the  great  plan  of 
ion. 

"  14.  Ami  find  said,  Let  there  be  lights  made  in  the  firma- 
ment of  he;.  ven.  to  divide  tli.'  day  and  the  night,  and  let  them 
be  for  signs  and  seasons  and  for  days  and  jrears. 


33 

"  15.  To  shine  in   the    firmament  of  heaven    and    to    give 
light  upon  the  earth,  and  it  was  so  done. 

"1(1.  And  (Joel  made  two  groat  lights,  a  greater  light  to 
rule  the  day,  and  a  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night,  and  the  stars. 

"  17.  A.nd  he  set  them  in  the  firmament  of  heaven  to  shine 
upon  the  earth, 

"  18.  And  to  rule  the  day  and  the  night,  and  to  divide  the 
light  and  the  darkness,  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good." 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  verses,  that  the  ruling  intent  of 
the  Creator  was  to  furnish  lif/ht,  and  not  heat,  to  the  world  he 
was  bringing  into  existence — to  separate  the  day  from  the 
night — as  signs  and  for  seasons,  and  for  days  and  years,  to 
shine  in  the  firmament  of  heaven,  and  to  give  light  upon  the 
earth.  „ 

These  then  are  the  varied  functions  to  be  performed  by  the 
sun,  moon,  and  stars,  by  the  fiat  of  the  Creator. 

Much  speculation  has  been  evoked,  in  the  inquiry  for  the 
source  of  that  light  that  was  ordered  to  be  made  previous  to 
the  making  of  the  two  great  lights,  the  sun  and  moon,  which 
he  set  in  the  firmament  of  heaven  to  shine  upon  the  earth. 
The  modern    revelations  of  the   telescope   in   disclosing  the 
character  of  the  more  distant  fixed  stars,  the  congregations  of 
stars  in    the  "  Milky  Way,"  in  the  nebulae  and  cloudlets  of 
lights,  furnish  an  answer  to  all  such  inquiries.     The  limited 
vision  of  Moses,  unassisted  by  the  telescope,  which,  in  his  day, 
had  no  existence,  would  not  have  permitted  him  to  compre- 
hend any  revelation  of  the  glories  of  the  world  of  astronomy, 
as  known  to  us  now;  and  hence,  no  such  revelation  was  made 
to  him.     He  was  only  instructed  partially  on  the  subject  of 
our  solar  system,  and  the  myriads  of  lights,  lesser  and  greater 
than  any  that  our  system  contains,  which  were  sendjng  their 
illumination  over  a  boundless  world,  were  entirely  unimagiued 
by  him.     But  we  can  readily  fancy  with  our  increased  know- 
ledge of  astronomy,  whence  this  primeval  light  was  drawn. 
We  may  suppose  that  our  solar  system  was  the  last  created  of 
the  various  systems  which  stud  the  heavens  with  their  brilliant 
effulgence,    and   that  the  materials   which   compose  it  were 
easily  gathered  from  the  mighty  masses  that  illuminated  the 
firmament. 

Our  astronomers  tell  us  of  the  infinite  star  depths,  in  which 
aro  assembled  series  of  worlds  without  number,  all  circling 


34 

around  their  respective  central  orbs,  and  all  moving  with 
inconceivable  velocity  towards  some  region  of  the  firmament 
so  remote  that  our  finite  intellectual  powers  fail  to  conceive 
of  it,  and  that,  in  this  grand  movement  of  worlds,  our  diminu- 
tive solar  system  has  its  allotted  part  and  pursues  its  inevitable 
destiny.  Hence  arises  the  reflection  that  when  our  system  shall 
approach  the  astronomical  horizon  of  this  mighty  system  of 
worlds,  and  shall  be  descending  below  it,  as  our  sun  now  does 
below  our  own  horizon,  another  solar  system,  transcending  in 
its  glories  anything  of  which  the  human  mind  can  conceive, 
shall  arise  in  the  western  firmament  to  take  the  place  that  had 
been  vacated  by  our  own,  and  thus  system  after  system  shall 
be  circling  in  the  great  expanse  of  space,  till  time  shall  be  no 
more. 

We  must  have  a  starting  point  in  our  discussion,  and  we 
will  begin  with  matter,  out  of  which  all  things  are  made. 

We  define  matter  to  be  anything  which  moves,  or  is  the 
subject  of  motion.  We  prefer  this  definition  before  all  others, 
since  it  is  entirely  irrespective  of  human  existence,  and  has  no 
reference  to  human  impressions.  Motion  was  produced  long 
before  man,  and  will  continue  long  after  he  has  passed  away. 

When  matter  is  said  to  be  solid,  liquid  or  gaseous,  we 
convey  a  very  inadequate  idea  of  its  composition  or  of  its 
condition.  The  microscope,  as  its  powers  are  being  developed, 
reveals  to  us  forms  and  conditions  of  matter  of  which  the  most 
fertile  imagination  could  have  had  no  previous  conception. 
So  in  the  series  of  what  is  termed  created  matter,  we  have  but 
a  very  faint  image  of  a  few  of  the  most  obvious  links  in  the 
chain  of  its  conditions,  while  we  know  and  can  know  nothing 
of  its  extreme  terminations,  its  greatest  density  and  most 
minute  tenuity.  But  \ve  may  conceive  that  whatever  moves, 
or  e;m  be,  moved, must  be  matter — according  to  this  definition, 
the  imponderables,  light,  heat,  electricity  and  magnetism,  are 
all  material  substances,  so  subtle  and  attenuated,  however, 
that  human  ingenuity  has  never  been  able  to  discover  their 
components,  or  to  reduce  them  to  standards  of  comparison  by 
which  their  powers  might  be  measured.  We  might  go 
farther  and  assert  that  all  human  emotions  as  well  as  animal 
instincts  are  likewise  material,  since  our  only  cognizance  of 
them  is  made  apparent  to  us  through  our  senses,  concerning 
whose  materiality  there  can  be  no  question.  Let  it  not  be 
supposed  that  this  idea  of  material  being  is  at  all  inconsistent 
with  an  a.-pi  ration  lor  a  future  life,  since  the  resurrection  of 


35 

the  material  body  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  Christian's  creed  as 
is  the  hope  of  his  immortality.  Moses  has  told  us  for  what 
purposes  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars  were  created  ;  "  to  rule 
the  day  and  night,  and  to  divide  the  light  and  the  darkness, 
and  as  signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for  days  and  years."  Now, 
it  is  a  very  remarkable  thing,  that  Moses,  who  was  born  in 
Gos'hen,  a  province  of  Egypt,  who  passed  the  first  forty  years 
of  his  life  in  Egypt,  which  lies  between  north  latitude  32°  and 
22°,  and  27°  and  34°  east  longitude,  the  next  forty  years  on 
the  borders  of  the  Desert,  and  the  last  forty  years  thereof  in  the 
wilderness  with  his  people,  should  have  omitted  to  assign  to 
the  sun  the  heating  qualities  which  our  scientists  declare  it  to 
possess,  if,  in  fact,  the  sun  did  possess  such  powers,  and  the 
fact  had  been  revealed  to  him  by  the  Almighty. 

Modern  discoveries  in  science  go  to  show  that  Moses  was 
right  in  his  description  of  the  functions  of  those  luminaries. 

We  may  imagine  the  astonishment,  amounting  almost  to 
incredulity,  with  which  Moses  received  the  revelation  regard- 
ing the  attributes  of  the  sun,  moon  and  stars.  Living  in  the 
hot  climate  of  Egypt,  or  of  the  Desert,  whose  "  soil  is  fire,  and 
whose  wind  is  flame,"  and  termed  "  burning  sands  of  the 
Desert,"  from  their  great  heat,  to  what  other  source  could  he 
refer  this  terrible  heat  than  to  the  sun.  Yet  the  sun  is  de- 
scribed to  him  as  a  great  light,  not  a  great  furnace,  not  a  great 
source  of  heat,  but  simply  as  an  illuminating  power.  W  hen 
traveling  in  the  Desert,  and  overtaken  by  the  burning  Sirocco, 
whose  blast,  like  that  from  a  fiery  furnace,  obscuring  the  light 
of  the  sun  by  the  clouds  of  burning  sand  which  it  had  raised, 
Moses  might  have,  by  a  course  of  reasoning,  traced  a  connection 
between  the  raging  tempest  and  the  sands  heated  by  the  sun, 
and  thus  have  assigned  to  that  luminary  the  heating  power 
claimed  for  its  radiations.  He  might  even  have  been  familiar 
with  the  tenets  of  the  predecessors  of  Zoroaster,  and  of  the 
fire  worshippers  in  Persia,  who  worshipped  that  great  orb  of 
light  as  the  source  of  earthly  heat,  but  if  so,  he  discarded 
all  such  imaginings,  and  boldly  declared  "  that  it  is  the  greater 
of  two  lights,  intended  to  separate  the  day  from  the  night ;  as 
signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for  days  and  years ;  to  shine  in  the 
firmament  of  Heaven,  and  to  give  light  upon  the  earth." 

Light  is  the  great  source  of  terrestrial  electricity,  magnetism 
and  heat. 

Whatever  moves,  or   is  the   subject  of  motion,  is  matter. 


36 

"We  cannot  conceive  of  motion,  without  associating  with  the 
idea  an  object  to  be  moved.  Ilence  light,  which  moves  with 
a  velocity  of  which  we  may  speak,  but  which  is  not  con- 
ceivable by  us,  is  composed  of  matter.  When  the  Creator,  in 
his  beneficence,  first  displayed  the  rainbow  in  the  atmosphere, 
lie  taught  mankind  their  first  lesson  in  philosophical  analysis. 
lie  thus  showed  that  the  white  light  of  the  sun  was  not  a  simple 
substance,  but  that  it  was  composed  of  seven  primary  rays, 
which,  by  their  combinations,  produced  all  the  varying  tints  or 
Colours  that  are  seen  in  nature,  and  yet  how  many  myriads  of 
years  have  passed  since  this  magnificent  spectacle  has  been 
exhibited  to  man  before  any  one  ventured  to  inquire  into  the 
simple  and  beautiful  lesson  which  it  taught.  Even  yet,  what 
profound  ignorance  prevails  everywhere  in  connection  with 
the  influences  which  these  elementary  rays  develop. 

Light,  which  thrown  upon  the  photosphere  of  the  sun,  from 
the  innumerable  orbs  that  from  their  starry  depths  illuminate 
the  expanse  of  Heaven,  is  reflected  to  this  planet  with  a 
velocity  of  186,000  miles  per  second  of  time,  and  requires  about 
8  16-o.3  minutes  to  reach  the  earth  from  the  sun,  ninety-two 
millions  of  miles  distant.  Whatever  maybe  the  composition 
of  the  space  intervening  between  the  sun  and  the  earth,  out- 
side of  our  atmosphere,  as  we  are  taught  that  nature  abhors 
a  vacuum,  it  must  be  composed  of  something  which  is  made  of 
matter.  Give  it  its  most  attenuated  form  and  call  it  ether,  it 
is  still  matter,  and  light,  which  is  also  composed  of  matter, 
however  subtle  it  may  be,  passing  through  it  with  this 
marvelous  speed,  must  produce  everywhere  enormous  friction. 
Now  whenever  one  body  moves  in,  on,  under,  around,  or  through 
another  body  in  contact  with  it,  such  motion  produces  friction. 
Friction,  derived  according  to  Webster,  from  the  Latin/neo,  to 
rub,  as  \ve  know  evolves  electricity,  and  it  is  this  electricity  and 
.pi-dative  magnetism,  discovered  by  Oersted,  the  cele- 
brated Danish  naturalist,  to  be  its  constant  accompaniment 
when  opposite  electrical  polarities  are  united,  thus  derived, 
which  form  those  tremendous  forces  of  nature  that  produce 
\vhere  those  changes  in,  on  and  about  our  planet,  that 
our  observation  at  every  instant.  When,  therefore,  the 
•»r,  after  having  assembled  in  their  respective  positions 
the  materials  which  compose  the  planetary  and  stellar  worlds, 
uttered  the  sublime  words,  ''Let  Light  be  made,"  he  called 
into  being  a  power  which  became  the  generator  of  all  the 
physical  forces  which  control  and  regulate  the  world.  Let  us 
for  a  moment  imagine  the  radiant  reflection  of  luminous  matter 


37 

from  every  part  of  the  photosphere  of  that  great  luminary,  the 
sun,  which  in  its  magnitude  was  intended  to  illumine  and 
vitalize  all  animated  matter,  as  well  as  to  give  form  and  con- 
sistency to  whatever  had  been  created,  passing  from  every 
point  thereof  with  a  velocity  of  186,000  miles  per  second, 
penetrating  through  planetary  and  stellar  spaces  which,  how- 
ever subtle  and  attenuated,  must  have  offered  some  resistance 
to  the  passage  of  this  material  light,  producing  everywhere  in 
its  passage  an  enormous  amount  of  friction,  and  with  it  elec- 
tricity and  magnetism.  Electricity,  by  the  junction  of  its 
opposite  polarities,  evolves  heat  and  also  imparts  to  all  sub- 
stances that  are  capable  of  being  invested  with  it,  magnetism. 
The  sun,  the  planets,  the  stars  and  all  the  bodies  that  stud  the 
expanse  of  heaven,  are  doubtless  all  magnets,  to  which  mag- 
netism was  imparted  when  the  Creator  uttered  in  heaven  the 
words  without  parallel  in  sublimity,  "  Let  light  be  made." 
This  then  is  the  origin  of  all  the  physical  forces  of  the  universe. 
Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  the  nature  of  heat,  and  it  will  be 
apparent  that  terrestrial  heat  cannot  be  directly  derived  from 
the  sun. 

The  tendency  of  heat  is  always  to  ascend  into  the  atmos- 
phere, when  it  is  derived  from  combustion  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  or  from  radiation  within  it.  The  flame  of  a  candle 
is  vertically  upward,  on  every  part  of  the  earth's  surface,  when 
the  air  is  still.  The  effort  of  heat  is  to  depart  from  its  source 
with  a  rapidity  proportionate  to  the  intensity  of  the  combus- 
tion. This  is  a  repellent  force — at  the  same  time  from  its 
being  associated  with  positive  electricity,  it  is  attracted  to  the 
upper  atmosphere  by  its  negative  electricity,  always  associated 
with  cold,  which  is  opposed  to  positive  electricity.  The 
diffusion  of  heat,  laterally  or  downwards,  is  very  inconsiderable, 
as  is  constantly  manifested  in  our  rooms,  where  the  fire  in  the 
grate  emits  very  little  heat  below  the  bottom  of  the  grate,  and 
parts  of  the  room  distant  from  the  fire  are  very  imperfectly 
heated  by  it.  The  sun  in  its  daily  course  being  above  the 
earth,  if  it  had  any  calorific  rays,  could  not  send  them  to  the 
earth  below  it,  through  a  space  of  ninety-two  millions  of  miles, 
which,  according  to  calculations  of  Pouillet,  has  a  temperature 
of  minus  142  degrees  of  Centigrade  thermometer.  We  will 
illustrate  this  by  an  example  or  two.  During  our  late 
unhappy  sectional  war,  at  the  siege  of  Fort  Sumter,  in  South 
Carolina,  General  Gilmore's  heavy  guns  threw  their  enormous 
shells  into  the  city  of  Charleston,  four  and  a  half  miles  distant. 
While  the  expansion  of  the  powder  in  the  chamber  of  these 


38 

guns,  in  its  combustion  into  gases,  evolved  a  power  which 
throw  those  shells  so  great  a  distance,  it  was  totally  inadequate 
to  drive  the  heat  disengaged  in  the  conversion  of  the  powder 
into  these  propelling  gases  to  a  greater  distance  from  the 
muzzles  of  the  guns  than  thirty  feet.  It  ascended,  instantl}* 
on  leaving  the  guns,  into  the  upper  atmosphere,  attracted  by  an 
opposite  electricity.  Any  one  familiar  with  the  fire  of  artillery, 
must  have  observed  similar  effects  regarding  the  heat  from  the 
discharge. 

We  will  illustrate  this  by  an  example.  "  Mount  "Washington, 
in  the  White  Mountains,  in  New  Hampshire,  is  in  north  latitude 
44°  16'  25",  and  in  west  longitude  from  Greenwich  71°  16' 
2(1".  Its  elevation  above  tide  water  is  6,293  feet;  and  in 
altitude  it  is  the  second  highest  mountain  northward  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  highest  mountain  thereof  being  Clingmans 
IVak,  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina — which  is  6,707  feet 
above  tide  water. 

"  The  limit  of  the  growth  of  trees  on  the  north  side  of  Mount 
Washington  is  4,150  feet  above  tide  water.  The  climate  of 
Mount  Washington  corresponds  with  that  of  the  middle  of 
;ilaud,  about  70°  of  north  latitude  or  26°  further  north 
than  New  Hampshire.  It  is  an  arctic  island  (so  to  speak)  in 
the  temperate  zone,  and,  on  account  of  its  great  elevation,  it 
exhibits  also  the  condition  of  the  atmosphere  where  the 
ineivury  does  not  rise  above  24  inches  in  the  barometer.  For 
peculiar  interest,  therefore,  the  Mount  Washington  (meteoro- 
logical) station  is  not  exceeded  by  any  point  within  the  arctic 
circle." 

It  was  on  this  mountain  that  a  party  of  scientific  gentlemen 
•  1  the  winter  of  1870  and  1871,  amid  great  privations  and 
suH'cring,  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the  physieal  con- 
ditions of  the  atmosphere  and  mountain  at  that  great  elevation. 
"Observation  shows  that  the  climate  of  any  country  becomes 
colder  in  proportion  to  the  height  of  the  land  above  the  sea. 
Thus  in  tropical  regions  there  may  be  an  arctic  climate  at  an 
altitude  of  12,000  or  15,000  feet." 

The  room  inhabited  by  these  gentlemen  was  in  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  railroad  depot,  about  20  feet  long,  11  feet 
wide  and  N  fe«-t  high.  It,  was  well  protected  from  the  outer 
cold,  was  heated  by  two  stoves,  one  an  ordinary  cook  stove, 
the  other  a  Mairee  parlor  stove,  prized  for  its  marvelous  heating 
power.  Their  Journal  reports  as  follows,  viz: 


39 

"  February  4th,  1871,  temperature  at  7  o'clock,  A.  M., — 33°; 
at  9  o'clock,  P.  M.,  — 40°.  In  the  room  the  temperature  was 
-f-35°  and  sometimes  +60°.  To  do  this,  the  stoves  were  kept 
at  a  red  heat.  The  thermometer  hangs  5  feet  from  stoves,  the 
temperature  10  feet  from  the  stoves  at  the  floor  was  12°,  in 
other  parts  of  the  room  the  temperature  was  65°  ;  midnight, 
wind  fully  up  to  100  miles  per  hour  and  northwest. 

"  February  5th,  some  of  the  gusts  of  wind  110  miles  per 
hour;  at  3  o'clock,  A.  M.,  temperature  in  the  room  59°, 
barometer  22.810  inches,  attached  thermometer  62°.  Yester- 
day, barometer  22.508  inches." 

Now  let  us  see  what  this  means  :  5  feet  from  red  hot  stoves 
the  thermometer  marked  60°,  10  feet  from  the  same  stoves  on 
the  floor  the  thermometer  marked  12°,  being  a  loss  of  48°  in  a 
distance  of  5  feet  in  length  and  2  feet  below  the  sources  of 
heat.1    Now  at  that  rate  of  radiation  of  heat,  how  hot  must  the 
sun  be  to  transmit  any  degree  of  heat  92  millions  of  miles 
through  a  temperature  of  — 142°  of  centigrade  to  this  planet, 
and  not  merely  to  this  earth  in  a  column  of  heat  of  8,000  miles  in 
diameter  to  envelope  it,  but  also  to  diffuse  its  heat  through  an 
ellipsoid  of  ether,  whose  circumference  would  be  the  orbit  of 
the  earth  around  the  sun  ?     But  the  actual  loss  of  heat  in  its 
descent  to  the  earth  (if  that  could  be  possible,  which  it  cannot 
be,)  per  foot  would  be  immensely  more  than  is  stated  above,' 
as  the  heat  would  have  to  pass  through  space  chilled  to  — 142° 
of  centigrade  instead  of  in  a  room  heated  to  -f-65°  of  Fahrenheit. 
Again,  in  this  latitude  of  40°  north,  we  have  in  our  winters 
falls  of  snow  which  lie  upon  the  ground  sometimes  for  weeks, 
with  the  sun  being  unable  to  make  any  impression  upon  it — 
and  when  the  snow  does  begin  to  melt,  it  commences  with  the 
layer  of  snow  in  contact  with  the  earth,  and  not  with  that  on 
the  upper  surface  exposed  to  the  sun.     Our  farmers  all  know 
that  when  their  fields  in  winter  are  covered  with  snow,  their 
growing  crops  under  it  are  kept  warm,  though  no  ray  of  the 
sun  could  reach  them  through  the  sno»w,  and  they  anticipate 
therefrom  a  large  yield  in  the  ensuing  harvest.     If  terrestrial 
heat  is  derived  directly  from  the  sun,  how  is  this  fact  explained  ? 
A  gentleman  in  the  State  of  Maine,  during  the  early  part  of 
the  last  winter,  when  the  ground  at  his  residence  was  deeply 
covered  with  snow  in  many  places,  made  some  experiments  to 
ascertain  the  temperature  of  the  earth  under  the  snow.     He 
found  that  the  heat  increased  at  the  surface  of  the  earth  with 
the  depth  of  the  snow  above  it.     The  following  is  the  account, 
7iz: 


Experiments  wore  made  in  the  winter  of  1872-73,  with  a 
view  to  ascertain  how  far  the  soil  is  protected  from  cold  by 
enow.  For  four  successive  days  in  winter,  there  being  four 
inches  in  depth  of  snow  on  the  ground  on  a  level,  the  average 
temperature,  immediately  above  the  snow,  was  found  to  be 
fourteen  degrees  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer  below  zero ; 
immediately  beneath  the  snow  in  contact  with  the  earth,  it 
was  ten  degrees  above  zero;  being  an  increase  of  twenty-four 
degrees  of  temperature,  occasioned  by  a  covering  of  the  earth 
with  four  inches  of  snow;  and  under  a  drift  of  snow  two  feet 
deep  the  temperature  was  twenty-seven  degrees  above  zero ; 
making  an  increase  of  temperature  at  the  earth's  surface  under 
two  feet  of  snow,  of  forty-one  degrees  of  Fahrenheit  over  the 
temperature  of  the  air  just  above  the  upper  surface  of  the  snow. 
No  one  can  pretend  that  these  variations  of  temperature  were 
derived  from  the  sun.  Let  us  attempt  an  explanation  of  this 
phenomenon. 

It  is  this.  The  radiation  of  heat  from  the  interior  of  the 
earth,  positively  electrified,  meeting  at  the  surface  of  the  earth 
with  the  snow  in  contact  with  it,  negatively  electrified,  the 
conjunction  of  these  opposite  polarities  of  electricity  evolves 
heat,  melting  the  under  layer  of  the  snow,  irrigating  the  plants 
r  it  with  water  moderately  warm,  and  keeping  the  earth 
from  being  frozen,  so  that  in  the  spring  following,  when  the 
snow  had  disappeared,  the  plants  were  ready  to  receive  the 
stimulating  influence  of  sunlight  and  the  blue  light  of  the  sky, 
of  which  they  had  been  deprived  during  the  winter. 

Professor  Tyndall,  writing  of  what  he  calls  solar  radiation, 

r  did  I  suffer  so  much   from  solar  heat,  as  when 

rom  the  corridor  to  the  rjrand  ,  ;'  Mont  Blanc 

on  tin-  l^lli  of  Auirust.   lv~>7.      Whilst  I  sank  up  to  the  waist  in 

now,   the  sun   darted  its   rays   upon    me  with   intolerable 

nteriiig  into  the  shade  of  the  Duinc  da  << 

in-tantly  changed,  for  the  air  was  as  cold  as 

not  really  much  colder  than  the  air  traversed   by 

•>lar  rays,  and  1  1   not  from  contact  with  warm  air 

the  stroke  of  the  sun's  rays,  which  reached  me  after 

lirough  a  medium  as  cold  as  ice." 

It  i-  singular  that  to  so  learned  and  astute  a  scientist  as  Pro- 
;!1,  it  did  not  occur  that   if  his  sensations,  so  dis- 

from  the  heat,  of  the 

1  not  have  walked  through  snow 

t  deep,  in  such  heat,  without  the  snow  becoming  melted 


41 

by  the  same  heat  which  oppressed  him,  and  that  he  would 
have  been  swept  away  by  the  torrent  of  water  thus  produced 
by  the  melting  of  the  snow  by  this  great  heat;  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  the  snow  was  at  all  affected  by  it,  while  the  water 
was  drawn  out  of  the  Professor  in  profuse  perspiration. 

I  venture  upon  an  explanation.  The  heat  from  which  the 
Professor  suffered  came  from  his  own  body,  and  was  derived 
from  electrical  action  of  sunlight  upon  his  dark  woolen  clothes, 
warmed  by  the  animal  heat  of  his  system.  He  was  struggling 
through  deep  snow  in  an  atmosphere  of  icy  coldness.  The 
natural  heat  of  his  body,  ninety-eight  degrees  of  temperature 
of  Fahrenheit,  was  greatly  increased  by  the  muscular  efforts 
he  was  making  in  his  descent  of  the  glacier.  His  woolen 
clothes  had  become  positively  electrified  by  the  heat  of  his 
body.  The  strong  sunlight  or  August  having  passed  through 
the  cold,  dry  ether  of  planetary  space  and  the  upper  atmos- 
phere of  the  earth,  by  its  friction  with  them  was  negatively 
electrified,  and  falling  upon  his  warm  body  and  clothes,  posi- 
tively electrified,  increased  heat  was  evolved  in  and  around 
his  person,  and  his  sufferings  were  intensified.  As  soon  as  he 
left  the  sunlight,  his  clothes,  by  induction,  became  negatively 
electrified  and  the  temperature  of  his  body  was  soon  lowered, 
nnd  his  sufferings  from  heat  ceased. 

Again,  there  is  no  heat  in  the  moon,  which  proves  that  the 
moon  has  not  an  atmosphere,  as  it  also  proves  that  there  is  no 
heat  in  the  sun ;  for  if  there  was  an  atmosphere  about  the 
moon  the  sun's  light  penetrating  it  and  producing  friction  by 
the  contact  with  it  would  evolve  electricity,  which  uniting 
with  the  opposite  electricity  of  the  moon's  atmosphere  would 
produce  heat,  but  no  such  effect  has  been  perceptible  with  the 
most  delicate  instruments.  Besides,  if  there  was  heat  in  the 
rays  of  the  sunlight,  that  heat  would  be  reflected  with  that 
lio;ht  from  the  moon's  surface  to  the  earth,  which  we  know  ia 

O  ' 

not  the  case. 

Now,  if  the  sun  possessed  heat,  and  could  force  it  down- 
wards to  the  earth,  which,  according  to  our  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  heat,  is  impossible,  we  could  have  no  clouds  in  our 
atmosphere,  as  from  the  absorbing  power  of  gases  of  heat  the 
clouds  would  be  so  expanded  and  attenuated  by  the  absorbed 
heat  that  they  never  could  be  formed. 

The  sun  is  a  great  magnet,  as  are  all  the  planets  of  the  solar 
system,  and  it  is  by  their  magnetism  and  not  by  their  weight 


42 

or  gravitation  that  their  motions  in  their  respective  orbits  are 
regulated  by  the  greater  magnetism  of  the  sun.  Now  as  mag- 
netic attraction  or  repulsion  varies  inversely  as  the  squares  of 
the  distances,  which  relation  has  been  heretofore  attributed  to 
gravitation,  it  is  not  difficult  to  assign  to  magnetism,  in  its 
attraction  and  repulsion,  the  forces  which  have  heretofore  kept 
and  now  keep  our  solar  system  in  its  various  motions,  nor  need 
we  hesitate  to  conceive  that  all  the  motions  of  infinite  systems,  of 
suns  and  stars,  of  nebulre,  and  cometary  and  meteoric  matter, 
are  in  like  manner  regulated.  The  meteoric  matter  which 
lias  fallen  to  the  earth,  has  been  found,  when  examined,  to  be 
highly  magnetic. 

If  the  sun  is  a  magnet,  there  is  only  sufficient  heat  generated 
in  its  interior  by  opposite  electricities  to  cause  its  daily  rota- 
tion on  its  axis,  and  it  cannot  be  an  incandescent  body,  since 
magnetism  is  destroyed  by  heat. 

"Wherever  there  are  differences  of  temperature,  there  are 
opposite  electricities — one  electricity  being  always  associated 
with  what  is  called  heat  while  the  opposite  electricity 
accompanies  cold.  These  terms  of  heat  and  cold  are  mere 
expressions  of  relative  differences  in  varied  temperatures,  with- 
out regard  to  the  intensity  of  either  condition. 

Professor  Tyndall,  in  his  book  on  "  The  Forms  of  Water  in 
Clouds  and  Rivers,  Ice  and  Glaciers,"  has  given  what  he  con- 
siders explanations  of  many  physical   phenomena   connected 
with  his  subjects,  attributing  to  radiations  of  solar  heat  the 
changes  and  transformations  which  lie  describes.     With  great 
deference  to  so  learned  and  distinguished  an  authority,  I  take 
-ion    to  offer   other   explanations    of  the    causes   of    the 
phenomena  alluded  to,  which  seem  to  me  as  being  more  in 
\vith  our  knowledge  of  general  physics. 

In  his  article  on  "  Mountain  Condensers,"  he  says  :  "Imagine 
a  southwest  wind  blowing  across  the  Atlantic  towards  Ireland. 
In  its  passage  it  charges  itself  with  aqueous  vapour.  In  the 
south  of  Ireland  it  encounters  the  mountains  of  Kerry ;  the 
highest  of  these  is  Magillicuddy's  Ueeks,  near  Killarney.  Now 
the  lowest  stratum  of  this  Atlantic  wind  is  that  which  is  most 
fully  charged  with  vapour.  When  it  encounters  the  base  of  the 
Kerry  Mountains,  it  is  tilted  up  and  flows  bodily  over  them. 
Its  load  of  vapour  is  therefore  carried  to  a  height,  it  expands 
on  reaching  the  height,  it  is  chilled  in  consequence  of  the 
expansion,  and  comes  down  in  copious  showers  of  rain.  From 


43 

this,  in  fact,  arises  the  luxuriant  vegetation  of  Killarney;  to 
this  indeed,  the  lakes  owe  their  water  supply.  The  cold 
crests  of  the  mountain  also  aid  in  the  work  of  condensation." 

Let  us  examine  this.  The  tilting  up  of  the  masses  of  cloud 
on  coming  in  contact  with  the  face  of  the  mountain  is  the 
resultant  of  the  impact  of  two  forces,  one  being  that  of  the 
wind  from  the  southwest  with  any  given  velocity  from  twenty 
miles  per  hour  to  that  of  eighty  or  one  hundred  miles  per  hour ; 
the  other,  the  static  force  of  the  resistance  of  the  mountain 
itself;  the  diagonal  of  these  two  forces  is  the  tilting  up  of  the 
cloud  after  impact.  Now  these  two  great  masses  of  cloud  and 
mountain,  oppositely  electrified,  when  they  come  together  in 
contact  produce  great  friction  of  their  molecules,  which  friction 
evolves  positive  electricity  from  the  higher  temperature  of  the 
southwest  wind ;  this  positive  electricity  thus  evolved  rushes 
into  conjunction  with  the  opposite  electricity  of  the  atmosphere, 
producing  heat,  which  heat  being  absorbed  by  the  air  holding 
the  water  in  suspension  communicates  to  it  positive  electricity, 
and  the  air  so  electrified  is  attracted  by  the  negative  electricity 
of  the  upper  atmosphere,  carrying  it  up  and  by  expansion  so 
comminuting  the  particles  of  air  that  they  can  no  longer  con- 
tain the  globules  of  water  they  before  held  in  suspension, 
which  latter  thus  released  then  begin,  being  attracted  by  the 
positive  electricity  of  the  earth,  to  fall  as  rain  oppositely 
electrified,  and  it  is,  therefore,  these  electricities  thus  excited 
with  the  heat  which  is  evolved  by  their  conjunction  and  the 
rain  charged  with  ammonia  and  carbonic  acid  gas  which  furnish 
the  stimulants  to  the  remarkable  vegetation  of  Killarney. 
During  the  prevalence  of  these  rain  bearing  clouds,  driven 
across  the  Atlantic  by  the  southwest  winds  upon  the  above 
mentioned  mountains,  the  sun  must  be  obscured  by  them, 
and  hence  there  can  be  no  radiations  of  solar  heat  to  expand 
the  air  of  the  clouds  after  their  impact  with  the  mountains, 
and  they  have  been  tilted  up  in  their  further  progress  over  the 
crests  of  the  mountains. 

A  similar  explanation  covers  the  example  the  Professor  gives 
of  a  heavy  fall  of  rain  or  snow  in  the  Alps,  while  the  sky  is 
clear  and  blue  over  the  plains  of  Italy — while  the  wind  is  blowing 
over  the  plains  to  the  Alps.  The  warm  wind,  positively  electrified 
and  holding  water  in  suspension,  coming  in  contact  with  the 
negative  electricity  of  the  cold  Alps,  and  producing  friction 
by  the  impact,  evolving  more  positive  electricity  to  combine 
with  the  negative  electricity  of  the  atmosphere  at  that  great 


44 

elevation,  in  the  heat,  and   by  it  expands   the  air   of 

the  clouds  so  much  that  it  can  no  longer  hold  the  globules  of 
water  held  by  it  in  suspension.  The  heated  and  expanded  air, 
attracted  to  the  still  higher  atmosphere  from  its  greater  nega- 
tive electricity,  separates  from  the  water  it  before  held,  while 
the  water  having  lost  its  heat  by  the  superior  capacity  of  the 
air  to  absorb  it,  becomes  negatively  electrified  and  is  attracted 
to  the  earth  by  its  positive  electricity — hence  the  rain  fall. 

Professor  Tyndall  also  states  in  the  same  work,  "  that  the 
unconfined  air  heated  at  the  earth's  surface,  and  ascending  by 
its  lightness,  must  expand  more  and  more,  the  higher  it  rises 
in  the  atmosphere,"  and  that  the  ascending  "air  is  chilled  by  its 
expansion.  Indeed  this  chilling  is  one  source  of  the  coldness 
of  the  higher  atmospheric  regions."  It  strikes  me  that  this 
explanation  is  not  correct.  In  the  first  place  the  ascent  of 
heated  air  in  the  upper  atmosphere  has  a  limit  boyond  which 
it  cannot  pass.  Secondly,  it  ascends  not  by  its  lightness  but 
by  the  attraction  of  the  negative  electricity  of  the  upper 
atmosphere  for  the  heated  air,  which  is  oppositely  clectriiied. 
In  its  upward  course  it  loses  its  heat  by  radiation  and  with  it 
its  positive  electricity — and  by  induction  becomes  negatively 
electrified  with  the  air  whose  altitude  it  has  reached — nor  is 
this  chilling  by  expansion,  as  he  terms  it,  one  source  of  the 
coldness  of  the  upper  atmosphere.  That  coldness  associated 
with  negative  electricity  is  derived  from  the  ether  in  which 
the  atmosphere  as  well  as  the  earth  is  continually  revolving; 
that  ether  has  a  temperature,  according  to  Pouillet,  cf — 142° 
of  Centigrade  thermometer,  and  our  upper  atmosphere  in 
contact  with  this  ether  receives  from  it,  by  induction,  both  its 
cold  and  its  negative  electricity,  and  the  atmosphere  itself  i.s 
kept  in  its  place  as  an  envelope  of  the  earth  by  the  positive 
electricity  of  the  earth  and  the  opposite  electricity  of  the  upper 
atmosphere.  The  snow  line  from  the  equator,  (15,000  foet 
above  the  equator  to  the  60°  of  north  latitude,  where  it 
\vith  the  earth,)  being  the  dividing  line  between  these 
>  opposing  electrieiti 

The  Professor  gives  nnother  example  of  the  air  being  chilled 

ion,  art  follows,  vi/ :   "  with  a  condensing  syringe 

•  air  into  an  iron  liox  furnished  with  a  stop  cock, 

to  which  the  svri;  rewed.      '!><>  so  till   the  density  of  the 

air  within  the   box  is  doubled  or  trebled.      Immediately  after 

•ion,  both  the  box  and  the  air  within  it  are  warm, 

and  can  be  proved  to  be  .-o  by  a  proper  thermometer.     Simply 


45. 

turn  the  cock  and  allow  the  compressed  air  to  stream  into  the 
atmosphere.  The  current,  if  allowed  to  strike  a  thermometer 
visibly  chills  it,  even  the  hands  feel  the  chill  of  the  expanding 
air." 

IsTow  for  another  explanation  different  from  the  Professor's. 
The  air  in  the  iron  hox  had  become  heated  by  the  friction  of 
it  with  the  sides  of  the  box  ;  that  friction  evolved  positive 
electricity  associated  with  the  heat ;  on  turning  the  cock  and 
allowing  the  heated  air  to  escape  into  the  atmosphere,  the  heat 
and  the  positive  electricity  both  left  the  escaping  air  with  the 
velocity  of  lightning,  rushing  into  the  oppositely  electrified  air 
in  the  upper  atmosphere,  and  the  air  that  reached  the  ther- 
mometer deprived  of  its  heat  reduced  its  temperature.  There 
is  also  an  inconsistency  in  the  explanation  of  the  Professor 
in  producing  heat  by  condensation  in  his  iron  box,  while  he 
produces  rain  by  the  condensation  of  the  clouds  by  cold  in  the 
upper  atmosphere.  This  reminds  one  of  the  fable  of  ^Esop, 
in  which  a  satyr  invited  into  a  husbandman's  hut,  blew  upon 
his  hot  broth  as  he  said  to  cool  it  before  eating  it,  and  again 
blew  his  breath  upon  his  fingers  to  warm  them  on  coming  into 
the  house  from  the  cold  outside  air.  The  husbandman  turned 
the  satyr  out  of  doors,  as  he  could  not  comprehend  how  any 
one  could  blow  hot  and  cold  from  the  same  breath. 

If  compression  of  the  atmosphere  produces  heat,  condensa- 
tion, which  is  merely  another  form  of  expression  for  the  same 
thing,  cannot  produce  cold.  If  cold  condenses,  why  does  it 
not  condense  the  air  in  the  upper  atmosphere  where  the 
greatest  cold  prevails,  and  the  air  is  very  dry,  rarefied  and 
attenuated?  According  to  the  theory  of  condensation  by  cold, 
the  air  should  be  very  much  more  dense  at  great  elevations 
above  the  earth,  than  it  is  at  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  but  the 
reverse  is  known  to  be  the  case.  The  higher  in  the  atmos- 
phere a  balloon,  inflated  with  hydrogen  gas,  ascends,  the  more 
the  gas  becomes  expanded  by  the  rarefaction  of  the  atmos- 
phere, which  shows  that  the  cold  of  the  upper  atmoephere 
cannot  condense  the  gas  in  opposition  to  the  expansive  influ- 
ence of  the  rarefied  atmosphere  at  great  elevations.  Ice  water 
poured  into  a  glass  tumbler  in  the  heat  of  summer,  causes  a 
deposit  of  drops  of  water  on  the  outside  of  the  tumbler 
resembling  dew,  which  is  the  result  of  a  conjunction  of 
opposite  electricities,  the  glass  and  the  air  within  and  around 
it  being  warm  and  positively  electrified,  while  the  ice  water  is 
negatively  electrified.  Their  conjunction  evolves  heat,  which 


46 

is  absorbed  by  the  molecules  of  air,  holding  in  suspension  the 
humidity  of  the  atmosphere  ;  these  molecules,  so  heated,  ascend 
immediately  with  inconceivable  rapidity  into  the  upper  atmos- 
phere, attracted  by  its  opposite  negative  electricity,  while  the 
globules  of  water  thus  released  from  their  suspension  in  the 
air  on  the  outside  of  the  glass,  being  now  negatively  electrified, 
are  attracted  by  the  vitreous  or  positive  electricity  of  the  glass 
tumbler  and  are  deposited  on  it. 

On  the  thirty-first  day  of  March,  A.  D.,  1872,  I  visited  my 
farm  to  give  directions  to  apply  heat  to  start  the  growth  of  the 
vines  in  my  grapery,  at  the  commencement  of  the  season. 
The  weather  was  very  cold,  patches  of  ice  and  snow  lay  in 
places  on  the  fields,  which  the  sun,  shining  with  great  brilliancy 
through  a  remarkably  clear  atmosphere,  was  unable  to  soften 
or  melt.  No  semblance  of  cloud  or  vapour  was  anywhere 
visible.  In  the  open  air,  protected  from  sunlight,  the  ther- 
mometer (Fahrenheit's)  marked  84  degrees,  two  degrees  above 
the  freezing  point  of  water.  On  entering  the  grapery,  in  which 
then-  had  been  no  artificial  heat  from  fuel  of  any  kind  for 
the  space  of  nearly  a  year,  my  son.  and  myself  were  astonished 
at  the  great  heat  that  there  was  within  it.  On  examining  the 
thermometer  which  hung  on  one  of  the  middle  posts  of  the 
grapery,  completely  sheltered  from  the  sunlight,  about  four 
feet  from  the  floor,  we  were  amazed  to  find  that  it  marked  one 
hundred  and  ten  degrees  of  Fahrenheit.  Here  was  an  increase 
of  seventy-six  degrees  of  temperature  over  that  of  the  outside 
air,  and  produced  by  a  film  of  glass  not  exceeding  one-six- 
teenth of  an  inch  in  thickness,  but  associated  as  blue  and 
plain  glass.  This  extraordinary  increase  of  temperature,  mani- 
•1  the-  supreme  wisdom  of  the  Creator  in  kindling  this 
t  the  surface  of  the  earth,  where  it  was  needed,  by  rays 
of  light  passing  through  a  denser  medium  than  air,  instead  of 
sending  heat  from  the  sun  through  ninety-two  millions  of 
miles  Oi  ether  at  a  temperature  of — 14:2  degrees  of  Centigrade 
thermometer,  in  the  passage  through  which  so  much  of  the 
said  heat  would  have  been  lost  by  radiation. 

I  have  had  many  occasions  to  observe  since  that  date,  that 
during  the  passage  of  strong  sunlight  through  the  blue  and 
plain  glass  of  the  grapery,  the  temperature  through  the  day, 
within  ti  i y,  varied  from  one  hundred  degrees  to  one 

hundred  and  fifteen  degrees,  while  that  without,  according  to 
the  seasons  of  t:  .at  the  same  times  of  the  day  would 

range  from  thirty-two  degrees  upward  to  sixty  degrees  or 
sixty-five  d< 


47 

During  the  winter  of  1871  and  1872,  which,  in  this  city,  was 
a  very  cold  and  rigourous  one,  two  ladies  of  ray  family 
residing  on  the  northern  side  of  Spruce  streets  east  of  Broad 
street,  in  this  city,  who,  at  my  suggestion,  had  caused  l>lue 
glass  to  be  placed  in  one  of  the  windows  of  their  dwelling, 
associated  with  plain  glass,  informed  me  that  they  had 
observed  that  when  the  sun  shone  through  those  associated 
glasses  in  their  window,  the  temperature  of  the  room,  though 
in  mid-winter,  was  so  much  increased  that  on  many  occasions 
they  had  been  obliged  during  sunlight  to  dispense  entirely 
with  the  fire  which,  ordinarily,  they  kept  in  their  room,  or 
when  the  fire  was  suffered  to  remain,  they  found  it  necessary 
to  lower  the  upper  sashes  of  their  windows,  which  were 
without  the  blue  glass,  in  order  to  moderate  the  oppressive 
heat. 

These  examples  go  to  illustrate  the  remark  of  a  distinguished 
German  scientist,  made  to  a  friend  of  mine  after  he  had  read 
an  account  of  my  experiments  with  blue  light  on  animal  and 
vegetable  life.  He  said, "  that  the  discovery  of  this  extraordinary 
influence  was  destined  to  produce  the  most  important  and 
beneficial  results  on  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  mankind, 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  That  fuel  was  everywhere 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  indispensable  elements  of  social 
and  domestic  economy.  That  it  is,  particularly  in  Europe, 
very  expensive  from  its  scarcity,  which  is  becoming  greater 
every  year  with  its  annual  consumption,  and  in  the  northern 
parts  of  Europe,  furs,  skins  of  animals  and  the  down  of 
aquatic  birds  are  extensively  worn,  sometimes  with  two  or 
three  suits  at  once  of  clothing,  in  order  to  preserve  the  animal 
heat  of  the  body,  owing  to  the  great  costliness  of  fuel  and  the 
severity  of  the  cold. 

"  That  even  in  England,  apprehensions  are  being  expressed  of 
an  exhaustion  of  their  coal  mines  in  the  not  distant  future. 
iSTow  since  this  wonderful  discovery  of  General  Pleasonton,  of 
the  influence  of  the  blue  light  of  the  sky  in  developing  animal 
and  vegetable  life,  which  is  largely  due  to  the  heat  and  elec- 
tricity developed  by  the  passage  of  sunlight  through  these 
associated  blue  and  plain  glasses,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
during  sunshine,  for  many  hours  in  the  day,  by  means  of  blue 
and  colourless  glass  arranged  together  in  doors  and  windows 
exposed  to  the  sun,  sufficient  heat  can  be  evolved  to  enable 
families,  and  work  people  in  factories,  to  dispense  with  a  large 
proportion  of  the  fuel  that  they  have  heretofore  been  obliged 


48 

to  use.  Let  us  say  that  one-half  of  the  fuel  heretofore 
required,  can  be  saved  by  thus  utilizing  sunlight,  and  you  will 
begin  to  comprehend  how  vact  will  be  the  benefit  derived  to 
mankind  in  the  economy  of  fuel  alone,  by  this  discovery  of 
General  Pleasonton." 

I  have  said  that  while  the  rays  of  the  sun's  light  were  one 
of  the  causes  of  terrestrial  heat,  yet  there  is  no  heat  in  them. 
This  can  be  proved  by  any  one,  in  the  following  experiment, 
viz:  During  winter,  when  the  ground  is  covered  with  enow, 
and  the  temperature  of  the  open  air  is  at  zero  of  Fahrenheit's 
thermometer,  it  will  be  found  that  the  sun,  however  brightly 
shining,  cannot  melt  the  snow  or  ice  on  which  it  may  shine. 
'Pake  now  a  piece  of  black  or  brown  silken  or  woolen  cloth  of 
any  form  and  of  convenient  size,  and  place  it  on  the  snow  in 
the  shade  where  the  sun  does  not  reach  it  with  his  rays.  The 
snow  will  not  be  melted  under  this  cloth,  which  will  have  the 
same  temperature  as  the  snow;  hence  it  is  obvious  that  there 
is  no  heat  either  in  the  sunlight  which  could  not  melt  the 
snow,  nor  in  the  coloured  cloth  whose  temperature  was  the 
same  as  the  shaded  snow  on  which  it  had  been  placed ;  now 
take  up  the  cloth,  and  place  it  on  the  snow  where  the  sun  can, 
shine  upon  it.  Let  us  observe  the  effect  of  this  new  position  ; 
the  rays  of  the  sun  moving  with  a  velocity  of  186,000  miles 
per  second  are  suddenly  arrested  by  this  cloth,  which  they 
cannot  penetrate.  This  sudden  stoppage  of  velocity  produces 
friction,  by  the  impact  of  the  rays  of  light  upon  the  cloth; 
electricity  is  evolved  by  the  friction,  having  a  polarity  opposed 
to  that  of  the  cloth;  instantly  these  opposite  electricities  rush 
together,  producing  heat,  warming  the  cloth  and  melting  the 
snow  immediately  under  the  cloth,  by  which  the  cloth  begins 
t<>  sink  below  the  level  of  the  snow,  and  it'  it  shall  be  allowed 
to  remain,  it  will  melt  the  snow  under  it  till  the  cloth  shall 
ipon  the  ground  beneath,  clear  of  the  snow,  and  the  sur- 
rounding snow  shall  enclose  the  cloth,  of  its  exact  size  and 
form 

From  this  experiment,  we  conclude  that  the  heat  which 

melted  the  snow  under  the  (doth  was  not  derived  from  the  sun 

it,  but  that  the  electricity  produced  by  the  impact  of  the 

sun's  rays  with  the  cloth  oppositely  electrified,  through  friction, 

evolved  the  heat  which  melted  the  snow. 

Now  suppose  that  instead    of  a   single  piece  of  this  cloth 
having  been  placed  upon  the  snow,  you  have  put  a  series  of  pieces 


49 

of  the  same  cloth  upon  the  snow.  The  same  principle  applies 
hut  a  dilt'erent  action  is  observed.  The  cloth  is  a  bad  con- 
ductor of  heat  as  well  as  of  electricity,  consequently  the  heat 
evolved  by  the  conjunction  of  the  opposite  elect  rieities  produced 
by  the  friction  of  the  rays  of  sunlight  by  impact  on  the  cloth 
with  the  opposite  electricity  of  the  cloth,  cannot  descend 
through  the  cloth  to  any  depth,  being  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
heat,  but  it  immediately  ascends  into  the  atmosphere  and 
escapes,  while  the  edges  of  the  series  of  pieces  of  cloth  in 
contact  with  the  snow  become  warmed  by  the  conjunction  of 
the  opposite  electricities,  produced  by  the  friction  of  the  rays 
of  light  with  the  edges  of  the  cloth  and  the  cloth's  electricity, 
and  soon  melt  the  snow  in  contact  with  them,  till  the  pieces  of 
cloth  are  left  high  and  dry  above  the  snow  which  surrounds 
them. 

Glaciers — their  Origin,  Position,  Duration,  Changes  and  More- 
ments. — Much  has  been  written  on  these  subjects,  and  many 
distinguished  scientists  have  been  greatly  exercised  to  give  a 
satisfactory  explanation  of  the  phenomena  they  have  witnessed 
in  connection  with  them. 

It  seems  to  me  that  glaciers  are  formed  in  the  regions  of 
perpetual  snow  by  the  deposition  of  snow  in  the  valleys  of  the 
lofty  mountains  where  they  exist;  clouds  laden  with  vapour 
when  they  reach  the  neighbourhood  of  the  mountains  whose 
valleys  are  filled  with  glaciers,  being  positively  electrified, 
encounter  the  negative  electricity  of  the  higher  atmosphere. 
These  opposite  electricities  meet  in  conjunction,  heat  is 
evolved — the  air  associated  with  water  as  vapour  in  the  clouds 
being  thus  heated,  is  rarefied  and  expanded  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  can  no  longer  retain  its  water,  (while  it  ascends  rapidly 
into  the  upper  atmosphere  attracted  by  its  negative  electricity,) 
which  on  being  liberated  from  the  air  that  held  it  as  vapour  is 
converted  by  the  surrounding  low  temperature  of  its  great 
altitude  into  flakes  of  snow,  which  having  an  opposite 
magnetism  to  the  earth  are  attracted  downward  to  it,  and  are 
at  the  same  time  repelled  from  the  height  where  they  are 
formed  by  the  opposite  magnetism  prevailing  there.  The 
crystallization  of  these  snow  flakes  is  made  in  a  vacuum, 
produced  by  the  escape  of  this  heated  and  rarefied  air,  and  by 
absorbing  the  magnetism  which  is  developed  by  the  con- 
junction of  the  opposite  electricities  of  the  clouds  and  the 
atmosphere  as  they  come  together  in  contact,  these  magnetic 
snow  flakes  transfer  it  to  the  earth  to  replace  the  magnetism, 


50 

which  is  constantly  leaving  the  earth  in  evaporations  to  escape 
into  the  upper  atmosphere. 

This,  then,  in  all  probability,  is  the  origin  of  glaciers.  The 
successive  snow  falls  in  the  upper  valleys  of  these  elevated 
MS,  by  their  magnetic  attraction  to  the  earth,  serve  to 
park  the  snow,  and  to  compress  the  lower  portions  of  it  into 
ice  of  greater  or  less  density,  according  to  its  elevation  in  the 
atmosphere  and  the  depth  of  the  valleys  in  which  the  glaciers 
are  formed.  The  effect,  therefore,  is  that  the  bottom  of  the 
glacier  is  ice,  while  the  upper  part  of  it  is  snow,  termed  nev6. 

Crevasses  are  fissures  of  various  depths  and  widths  in  the 
glacier,  whose  formation  Professor  Tyndall  attributes  to  the 
effect  of  the  solar  radiation  of  heat  upon  the  glaciers.  He  says, 
in  his  book  on  "The  Forms  of  Water,"  &c.,  page  100,  "first, 
then,  you  are  to  know  that  the  air  of  our  atmosphere  is  hardly 
heated  at  all  by  the  rays  of  the  sun,  whether  visible  or  invisible  ; 
the  air  is  highly  transparent  to  all  kinds  of  rays,  and  it  is  only 
the  scanty  fraction  to  which  it  is  not  transparent  that  expend 
their  force  in  warming  it." 

I  have  shown  that  heat  ascends  in  our  atmosphere  by  the 
attraction  of  the  positive  electricity  with  which  it  is  always 

•iated,  by  the  negative  electricity  of  the  colder  air  in  the 
upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  and  by  its  repulsion  from 
the  earth  by  its  positive  electricity  ;  it  is,  therefore,  contrary 
to  the  laws  of  heat  that  the  sun  should,  can  or  could  transmit 
rays  of  Jictd  downward  to  this  planet,  and  as  these  heat  rays 
can  not  be  so  transmitted,  they  are  therefore  not  present  to  be 
absorbed  by  the  snow  of  the  glacier  or  on  the  mountains.  On 

its  of  the  same  book,  he  says:  "  w«-  have  wrapped  up  our 
chain  and  are  turning  homewards  after  a  hard  day's  work 
upon  the  Glacier  du  (ieant,  when  under  our  feet,  as  if  coming 
from  the  body  of  the  glacier,  an  explosion  is  heard.  Somewhat 

!"d,  we  look  inquiringly  over  the  ice.  The  sound  is 
repeated,  several  shot-  being  fired  in  quick  succession.  They 

i  sometimes  to  our  right,  sometimes  to  our  left,  giving 
the  impression  that  the  glacier  is  breaking  up,  still  nothing 
is  to 

"  We  closely  scan  the  ice,  and  after  an  hour's  strict  search 
we  discover  the  cause  of  the  reports.  They  announce  the 

birth  of   a  crevasse.     Through   a    pool    upon   the  glacier,  we 
notice  air  bubbles  ascending,  and   find  the  bottom  of  the  pool 


51 

crossed  by  a  narrow  crack,  from  which  the  bubbles  is^ue. 
Right  and  left  from  this  pool,  we  trace  the  young  fissure 
through  long  distances.  It  is  sometimes  almost  too  feeble  to 
be  seen,  and  at  no  place  is  it  wide  enough  to  admit  a  knife 
blade. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  formidable  fissures,  among 
which  you  and  I  have  so  often  trodden  with  awe,  should 
commence  in  this  small  way.  Such,  however,  is  the  case. 
The  great  and  gaping  chasms  on  and  above  the  icefalls  of  the 
Qeant  and  the  Talefre  begin  as  narrow  cracks,  which  open 
gradually  to  crevasses.  The  crevasses  are  grandest  on  the 
higher  neves,  where  they  sometimes  appear  as  long  yawning 
fissures,  and  sometimes  as  chasms  of  irregular  outline  ;  delicate 
blue  light  shimmers  from  them,  but  this  is  gradually  lost  in  the 
darkness  of  their  profounder  portions. 

"  Over  the  edges  of  the  chasms,  and  mostly  over  the  southern 
edges,  hang  a  coping  of  snow,  and  from  this  depend  like 
stalactites,  rows  of  transparent  icicles,  ten,  twenty,  thirty  feet 
long.  These  pendent  spears  constitute  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful features  of  the  higher  crevasses.  How  are  they  produced  ? 
Evidently  by  the  thawing  of  the  snow.  But  why,  when  once 
thawed,  should  the  water  freeze  again  to  solid  spears  ?"  Now 
let  us  examine  this  :  if  the  supposed  heat  of  the  sun's  rays, 
could  melt  the  snow  at  the  southern  edges  of  the  crevasse, 
why  did  not  similar  rays  from  the  sun,  conveying  the  like 
temperature,  melt  the  general  surface  of  the  glacier,  and 
produce  thereby  large  pools  of  water  on  the  surface  of  the 
glacier?  Particularly,  as  the  Professor  states,  "  that  the  snow  on 
which  the  sunbeams  fall,  absorbs  the  solar  heat,  and  on  a 
sunny  day,  you  may  see  the  summits  of  the  high  Alps  glisten- 
ing with  the  water  of  liquefaction.  The  air  above,  and  around 
the  mountains  may,  at  the  same  time,  be  many  degrees  below 
the  freezing  point  in  temperature." 

If  the  surface  of  the  snow  on  the  mountains  was  melted  by 
the  solar  heat,  as  the  Professor  supposes,  what  was  there  to 
arrest  the  streams  of  water  thus  produced,  and  to  prevent  them 
from  flowing  into  the  valleys  occupied  by  the  glaciers,  and 
converting  the  glaciers  themselves  into  mountain  torrents, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  mountains  were  being  denuded  of 
snow?  But  we  know  that  such  results  have  not  been  pro- 
duced. Above  the  snow  line  the  mountains  are  perpetually 
covered  with  snow,  and  the  glaciers  have  remained  from  a 
remote  antiquity  to  attest  that  the  snow  does  not  absorb 


52 

the  heat  of  the  sunbeams,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  sun- 
beams in  themselves  do  not  bring  any  heat  from  the  sun  to 
this  planet. 

In  my  early  boyhood,  I  dwelt  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac, 
a  river  fancifully  named  by  the  Indians,  before  the  advent  of 
the  white  man,  "the  river  of  swans,"  from  the  abundance  of 
that  water  fowl  that  frequented  its  waters.  "Well  do  I 

mber,  lying  awake  on  the  eve  of  our  several  winter 
holidays,  when  the  river  was  deeply  frozen,  anticipating  a  day 
of  splendid  skating  on  the  morrow,  to  have  been  often  startled 
by  the  noise -of  a  great  explosion  of  the  ice  on  the  river, 
occasioned  by  the  compression  of  the  air  beneath  thf  ice,  as 
the  tide  rising  rapidly  forced  it  upwards  between  the  water 
and  the  ice,  till  its  accumulation  and  compression  would  over- 
come the  resistance  of  the  ice,  and  a  fissure  would  be  opened 
in  it  extending  sometimes  for  miles,  and  liberating  the  pent 
up  air  into  the  atmosphere.  If  the  temperature  of  the  night 
air  was  below  the  freezing  point  of  water,  as  the  tide  receded 
the  water  which  had  filled  the  fissure,  when  the  tide  was  full, 

frozen  into  ice,  and  the  track  of  the  fissure  could  bo 
marked  on  the  next  day  by  the  film  of  thin  ice  that  had  been 
formed  in  it,  as  the  tide  was  receding  the  night  before. 

In  this  way,  air  holes,  so  dangerous  to  travelers  and  skaters 
on  the  ice,  are  constantly  formed  on  our  rivers  and  streams, 
subject  to  the  flow  of  the  tides,  and  in  lakes  and  mountain 
stn-ams,  they  are  also  formed  by  the  currents  of  water  flowing 
downwards  in  a  similar  manner.  In  my  later  youth,  I  had 
observed  similar  effects  from  similar  causes,  produced  on  the 
ice  of  the  river  Hudson,  at  West  Point.  In  short,  fissures  on 
the  surface  of  anything,  whether  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  by 
volcanic  eruptions  in  which  lava,  rocks,  scoriae,  mud,  boiling 
water,  are  thrown  out  from  the  interior,  or  by  Ge 
spouting  their  hot  streams  into  the  atmosphere,  or  the  cracks 
in  the  ground  produced  by  long  continued  droughts,  evapo- 
rating the  moisture  contained  in  the  soil,  and  even  eruptive 
-cs  among  mankind  or  other  animals  whether  wild  or 
domestic,  are  all  the  results  of  interior  forces,  acting  from  the 
rior  to  their  respective  surfaces. 

explain  the  crevasse  on  the  glacier.  The  snow 
falls  carry  to  the  glacier  large  quantities  of  atmospheric1  air, 
which  are  confined  between  tin:  glacier  and  the  snow  as  it 
falls;  every  fall  of  snow  pn  predecessors  and  the  air 

they    contain    closer   together    against    the    ice.   filling    its 


I  53 

vacancies  with  air.  This  column  of  air,  thus  pressed  down 
upon  and  into  the  ice,  encounters  the  air  which  has  been 
enclosed  between  the  bottom  of  the  glacier  and  the  earth  on 
which  the  glacier  rests, — this  last  mentioned  air  has  been 
warmed  by  the  radiation  of  heat  from  the  interior  of  the  earth, 
and  has  become  positively  electrified  by  it — the  contact  of  this 
positively  electrified  air  with  the  negatively  electrified  ice  of 
the  bottom  of  the  glacier,  evolves  more  heat,  which,  melting 
the  lower  stratum  of  ice  of  the  glacier,  constitutes  the  source 
of  the  stream  of  water  that  flows  from  the  glacier.  Such  is 
the  origin  of  the  river  Rhone. 

This  warm  air,  in  its  effort  to  rise  through  the  glacier  into 
the  upper  atmosphere  negatively  electrified,  meets  in  the 
crevices  everywhere  abounding  in  the  ice  of  the  glacier,  the 
air  which  has  been  forced  down  by  the  snow  falls,  and  which 
last  air  is  negatively  electrified ;  the  conjunction  of  these  two 
airs  oppositely  electrified  evolves  heat,  which  expanding  the 
air,  displaces  the  ice  of  the  glacier,  forming  channels  for  its 
escape  into  the  upper  atmosphere,  and  when  it  reaches  the 
upper  surface  of  the  glacier,  forces  its  way  through  it  into  the 
atmosphere  in  that  minute  fissure,  which  Professor  Tyndall 
had  such  difficulty  to  discover.  Again,  this  warm  air  as  it 
escaped  into  the  atmosphere,  melted  the  edges  of  the  ice  or 
snow  at  the  surface  through  which  it  passed,  and  through 
which  it  was  visible  in  the  air  bubbles  Professor  T.  described. 

The  melting  of  the  lower  stratum  of  ice  of  the  glacier  in 
contact  with  the  earth  produced  by  the  heat  evolved  by  the 
conjunction  of  the  positive  electricity  of  the  earth  with  the 
negative  electricity  of  the  ice,  is  the  cause  of  the  subsidence  of 
the  body  of  the  glacier,  and  the  declivity  of  the  valley  itself  is 
the  cause  of  the  glacier  moving  bodily  downward  in  it.  The 
fractures,  strains,  torsions  of  certain  portions  of  the  glacier 
are  the  results  of  the  forces  of  expansion  and  contraction  in 
the  interior  of  the  glacier,  produced  by  variations  of  its 
interior  temoerature  as  mentioned  above. 

In  this  country,  the  winter  of  the  years  1874  and  1875  has 
been  an  exceptional  one.  The  cold  has  been  of  long,  and 
almost  uninterrupted  continuance,  and  of  great  severity. 
The  rivers  in  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States  have  been  closed 
with  ice,  which  has  been  of  great  density  and  depth,  extending 
in  some  of  their  courses  through  the  mountains  even  to  the 
beds  of  their  streams.  The  frozen  condition  of  the  waters  has 


54 

remained  till  late  in  the  spring  season ;  and  from  the  accumu- 
lation of  i mine-use  masses  of  ice  in  certain  portions  of  these 
rivers,  forming  what  were  called  ice-gorges,  filling  their  entire 
width  for  the  distance  of  miles  in  length,  the  most  serious 
apprehensions  were  entertained  of  extraordinary  damages  to 
towns  and  villages,  railways  and  canals,  in  the  valleys  of  these 
rivers,  that  would  be  sustained  by  the  sudden  breaking  up  of 
of  ice  from  rain-storms,  and  the  melting  of  the 
snows  on  the  mountains,  which  would  produce  the  most 
extensive  and  alarming  inundations.  These  apprehensions 
justified  by  the  advanced  spring  season  which  usually, 
by  its  increased  temperature,  terminates  the  rigours  of  winter. 

To  obviate,  if  possible,  these  threatened  dangers  and  cdami- 
>y  the  sudden  breaking  up  of  the  ice,  various  expedients 
resorted  to,  viz  :  cutting  channels  through  the  ice  below 
the  gorges,  to  liberate  the  water  above,  should  it  assume 
alarming  proportions;  attempting  to  destroy  the  gorges  them- 
selves by  the  explosions  of  gunpowder,  or  of  nitro-glycerine, 
confined  in  chambers  in  the  ice  itself,  and  one  very  liberal 
gentleman,  evidently  a  believer  in  the  theory  that  the  sun  is 
an  incandescent  body  and  sends  its  heat  bodily  to  our  earth, 
downwards,  presented  to  the  authorities  of  one  of  the  towns 
endangered  by  the  ice-gorge  in  its  neighbourhood,  twenty- 
eight  barrels  of  Naphtha,  to  be  burnt  on  the  ice-gorge,  under 
the  impression  that  the  heat  produced  by  their  combustion, 
would  descend  through  the  ice,  and  liquefy  it  into  water.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  add,  that,  when  the  experiment  of 
burning  the  Naphtha  upon  the  ice-gorge  was  tried,  the  heat 
evolved  by  its  combustion  immediately  ascended  into  the 
upper  atmosphere,  leaving  the  ice  unaffected  by  the  experi- 
ment. 


n\  a  very  interesting  book  entitled,  ''  Mount 

in  Winter;  or,  the  Kxpcr  a  Scientific  Expedition  upon 

Mountain  in  Xe\v  Hngland — 1870-71,"  published 

in    I5«jst')ii    in    1*71,    we    make    some    extracts    that   seem    to 

;t  connection  with  the  subjects  of  which  we  are  treating. 

"  Moo-ihiuke  Mountain,  near  Mount  "Washington,  is  nearly 
t    high,  and    lies  within    the    arctic    zone  of 
climate.     It  was  on  tins   mountain  that    two  scientific  gentle- 
men, viz.,  Me-^r~.    A.   F.   ('lough  and    II.    A.  Kimball,  deter- 
-  two  months,  in  the  winter  of  the  years  18G9  and 
1870,  in  order  to  fit  themselves  the  better  for  a  winter  residence 


on  Mount  Washington,  at  a  future  day.  They  attempted  the 
ascent  of  the  mountain  on  ISTovember  23d,  1860,  but  wore  driven 
back  by  the  severity  of  the  weather.  On  the  31st  of  December, 
1869,  the  attempt  was  renewed  under  better  auspices,  and  was 
successful. 

-•About  two  months  were  spent  by  them  on  this  summit. 
So  valuable  were  the  experiences  acquired,  and  so  unusual 
were  the  meteorological  phenomena  observed,  that  the  Mount 
"Washington  phenomena,  subsequently  experienced,  have  not 
equaled  those  upon  Mount  Moosilauke,  and  among  them  the 
possibility  of  living  on  a  mountain  top  during  the  winter,  was 
fully  demonstrated. 

"  There  is  scarcely  a  mountain  in  Xew  England  from  which 
the  view  is  more  extensive.  Wrc  can  see  from  it,  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  with  its  numerous 
mountain  peaks.  Eastward  is  Mount  Washington,  in  solemn 
repose, — its  neighbouring  peaks  of  immaculate  whiteness — 
Mount  Lafayette  and  its  lines  of  white  extending  far  down 
into  the  evergreen  forests.  Southward  is  Lake  Winnipiseogee, 
with  its  numerous  isles,  glittering  in  the  sunlight,  like  a  gem 
of  the  purest  water.  Westward  is  the  whole  State  of  Vermont, 
and  Ascutney,  the  most  pointed  of  its  mountains,  is  conspicu- 
ous. Moosilauke  is  so  much  higher  than  the  immediate 
neighbouring  peaks,  that  the  whole  country  is  spread  out  as  a 
grand  intrusive  raised  map  before  the  beholder. 

"  IS'o  scene  more  grand  and  beautiful  ever  greeted  the  eye 
of  man,  than  when,  beyond  the  dark  band  of  clouds  just  below 
the  summits  of  the  Franconia  and  White  mountains,  appeared 
those  tints  of  rose  and  orange,  lying  along  the  horizon  just 
above  the  snow  capped  summit  of  Mount  Washington,  and 
against  a  deep  azure  sky.  From  Moosilauke,  you  command 
the  whole  panorama  of  the  White  Mountain  range,  and  you 
may  see  something  of  the  effect  witnessed  among  the  Alps. 
As  the  day  dies,  the  lost  shadows  pass  with  strange  rapidity 
from  peak  to  peak,  vanishing  from  one  height  as  they  appear 
on  the  next." 

The  following  are  extracts  from  their  Journal,  viz : 

"  On  the  1st  of  January,  1870,  the  sun  rose  clear.  We  were 
above  the  clouds,  and  a  grander  spectacle  one  does  not  often 
behold.  The  clouds  seemed  to  roll  and  surge  like  the  billows 
of  the  ocean.  They  were  of  every  dark  and  of  every  brilliant  hue  ; 


56 

here  they  were  resplendent  with  golden  light,  and  there  of 
silvery  brightness;  here  of  rosy  tints,  there  of  sombre  gray, 
here  of  snowy  whiteness,  there  of  murky  darkness,  here 

forgeous  with  the  play  of  colours,  and  there,  the  lurid  light 
ashes  deep  down  into  the  gulfs  formed  by  the  eddying  mist. 
l>ut  above  all  these  clouds,  these  flashes  of  light,  this  darkness, 
rise  in  stately  grandeur,  the  summits  of  Mount  Washington, 
sublime  in  its  canopy  of  snow,  and  of  Lafayette,  with  a  few 
peaks  of  lesser  altitude,  glittering  in  the  bright, sunlight.  As 
the  sun  rises  higher,  the  picture  fades  away,  the  whole  country 
is  flooded  with  light. 

"  Did  this  grandeur,  this  magnificence,  this  brilliant  display 
of  lights,  of  shadows,  and  shades — of  these  clouds,  so  resplen- 
dent, so  beautiful,  portend  a  storm?  In  the  evening  the  wind 
changed  to  the  southeast,  and  increased  in  velocity. 

"At  daylight  on  the  2d  of  January,  1370,  it  was  snowing. 
This  soon  changed  to  sleet,  and  then  to  rain,  and  at  eight  o'clock, 
A.  M.,the  velocity  of  the  wind  was  seventy  miles  per  hour;  at 
twelve  o'clock,  noon,  there  was  a  perfect  tempest.  Although 
the  wind  was  so  fearful,  yet  Mr.  Clough  was  determined  to  know 
the  exact  rate  at  which  it  was  blowing.  By  clinging  to  the 
rock,  he  succeeded  in  reaching  a  place  where  he  could  expose 
the  anemometer,  and  not  be  blown  away  himself.  He  found 
the  velocity  of  the  wind  to  be  ninety-seven  and  a  half  miles  per 
hour,  the  greatest  velocity,  until  that  time,  ever  recorded. 
"When  he  reached  the  house,  he  was  thoroughly  saturated  with 
water,  the  wind  having  driven  the  rain  through  every  garment, 
although  they  were  of  the  heaviest  material,  as  though  they 
liad  been  made  of  the  lightest  fabric.  During  the,  afternoon, 
the  rain  and  gale  continued  with  unabated  violence.  The  rain 
•riven  through  every  crack  and  crevice  of  the  house  and 
the  floor  of  our  room  was  flooded.  80  fierce  was  the  draught 
or  the  stove,  that  the  wind  literally  took  away  every  spark  of 
fire,  leaving  only  the  half  charred  wood  in  the  stove,  and  it  was 
with  •  dillieiilty  that  wo  succeeded  m  re-kindling  it. 

During  the  evening,  the  wind  seemed  to  increase  in  fury,  and 
although  the  window  was  somewhat  protected,  yet  nearly  every 
glass  in  it,  that  was  exposed,  was  broken  by  the  pressure  of 
lie,      A-  the  lights  were  broken,  the  tire  was  again  extin- 
guished, and  even    my  hurricane  lantern  was    Mown  out   as 
quickly  as  if  the  flame  had  been  unprotected.      *      *      *      * 
nine  o'clock.  1*.    M.,   there  were  occasional  lulls  in  the 
storm,  and  by  midnight  it  had  considerably  abated. 


57 

"When  it  was  clear,  there  was  a  strong  temptation,  notwith- 
standing the  cold,  to  be  out  of  doors  to  watch  the  clouds,  at 
first  of  almost  fiery  redness,  then  changing  to  gray  and  neutral 
tints,  until  almost  black,  they  seemed  to  gather  around  some 
distant  peak,  or  as  a  dark  band,  they  lay  between  the  Franco- 
nia  and  White  Mountains,  leaving  only  the  snow-clad  summits 
above  the  dark  border;  or  at  sunset,  when  they  lay  in  narrow 
bands,  or  rose  tinted  clusters  around  the  summit  of  Mount 
~\\  asliington,  while  elsewhere  they  were  those  of  leaden  hue, 
such  as  are  seen  only  in  winter.  Often  when  the  sky  is  par- 
tially overcast,- through  the  intervening  spaces  of  the  clouds,  we 
see  that  intense  blue  sky,  which  is  peculiar  to  high  altitudes. 

"  On  the  19th  of  February,  1870,  there  were  two  currents  of 
air,  the  upper  had  its  lowest  stratum  probably  two  thousand 
feet  below  the  summit.  In  the  morning  the  upper  current 
was  northwest,  with  a  velocity  of  fifty  miles  per  hour ;  about 
noon,  the  wind  changed  to  the  north  and  increased  in  velocity, 
and  at  five  o'clock,  P.  M.,  it  had  a  velocity  of  seventy  miles 
per  hour.  At  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  nearly  5000  feet  below 
there  was  scarcely  a  perceptible  breeze,  yet  up,  a  thousand  feet, 
there  was  a  strong  current  from  the  southivest,  and  the  clouds 
seem  to  move  almost  as  rapidly  as  those  from  the  north,  higher 
up  the  mountain.  On  account  of  the  velocity  of  the  wind,  and 
the  upward  pressure  of  the  currents  below,  the  effect  was 
remarkable.  The  whole  country,  except  the  higher  summits, 
was  covered  with  clouds,  and  these  were  moving  at  the  rate, 
probably,  of  more  than  sixty  miles  per  hour,  and  everywhere 
they  were  broken  into  seething,  undulating  masses,  for  as  they 
came  near  the  mountains,  in  an  instant,  almost,  they  would  be 
lifted  more  than  a  thousand  feet,  to  be  carried  over  the 
summits.  As  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  embracing  thousands 
of  square  miles,  was  this  rolling  tumultuous  mass  of  clouds.'' 

These  gentlemen  left  the  Moosilauke  mountain  on  the  last 
day  of  February,  A.  D.,  1870.  It  was  extremely  cold,  wind  60 
to  70  miles  per  hour,  thermometer  ranging  from  0  degrees  to 
— 17  degrees.  The  complete  organization  of  the  expedition  to 
pass  the  winter  of  the  years  1870  and  1871,  on  Mount  Wash- 
ington, was  as  follows,  viz  : 

C.  H.  Hitchcock,  State  Geologist,  J.  H.  Huntington,  in 
charge  of  the  Observatory  upon  the  mountain.  S.  A.  Kelson, 
Observer. 

A.  F.  Clough  and  H.  A.  Kimball,  Photographers. 


58 

Theodore  Smith,  Observer  and  Telegrapher  for  the  United 
States  Signal  Service. 

"  Mount  Washington,  in  the  White  Mountains  in  New 
Hampshire,  is  in  latitude 44  degrees  16  minutes  25  seconds  north 
and  in  longitude  from  Greenwich  71  degrees  16  minut* 

ils  west,  or  1  degree  0  minutes  43.99  seconds  of  longitude 
east  from  Hanover  in  New  Hampshire. 

"Its  elevation  above  tide  water  is  6,293  feet,  and  in  altitude 

the  second  highest  mountain  northward  of  the  Gulf  of 

Mexico,  the  highest  mountain  thereof  being  Cliugman's  Peak, 

in  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  which  is  6,707  feet  above  tide 

water. 

"  The  limit  of  the  growth  of  trees  on  the  north  side  of 
Mount  Washington,  is  4,150  feet  above  tide  water.- 

"  The  climate  of  Mount  Washington  corresponds  with  that 
of  the  middle  of  Greenland,  about  seventy  degrees  of  north 
latitude,  or  26°  further  north  than  New  Hampshire. 

"It  is  an  arctic  island  (so  to  speak)  in  the  Temperate  Zone, 
and  on  account  of  its  great  elevation  it  exhibits  also  the  con- 
dition of  the  atmosphere,  where  the  mercury  does  not  rise 
above  24  inches  in  the  barometer.  For  peculiar  interest 
therefore,  the  Mount  Washington  Station  is  not  exceeded  by 
any  point  within  the  arctic  circle." 

Professor  Edward  Tuckerman,  of  Amherst,  Massachusetts, 
in  his  admirable  treatise  upon  "the  Vegetation  of  the  White 
Mountains,"  marks  out  four  regions:  first,  (he  lower  for  cut,  in 
which  are  found  the  hard  wood  species  of  trees,  the  rock 
maple,  the  beech,  the  white  and  yellow  birches;  with  these 
i'tt-n  large  white  pines,  firs,  white  spruces,  the  aspen,  the 
witch  hazel  and  the  mountain  ash. 

"  In  the  second  region,  the  upper  forest  consists  mostly  of 
black  spruce  and  fir,  with  occasional  yellow  and  canoe  birches, 
Fra/er's  balsam  tir  and  a  mountain  ash;  at  4,000  feet  cf 
altitude  these  trees  are  dwarfed  but  are  very  strong,  and  when 
close  together  form  a  thicket  almost  impenetrable. 

"  Among  the  plants  of  the  third  or  *tff>-<ilphie  region  are  the 
mountain  sandwort,  the  evergreen  cowberry,  the  Labrador  tea 
and  the  mountain  bilberry.  This  seems  not  to  be  well  charac- 
terized. 


59 

"The  fourth  and  highest  region  is  called  alpine,  and  con- 
tains many  plants  peculiar  to  Labrador  and  Greenland.  There 
are  some  fifty  or  sixty  of  these,  and  among  them  are  as  many 
more  lowland  species  which  have  emigrated  to  the  summit 
and  manage  to  live  there  in  favourable  seasons,  though  of) 
much  dwarfed.  The  lichens  are  very  conspicuous  and  beauti- 
ful, one  of  a  sulphur  yellow  colour  is  quite  noticeable,  and  is  a 
good  indication  of  the  visitor's  arrival  in  the  Alpine  District. 
Another  is  the  reindeer  moss,  a  very  common  article  of  food 
for  the  most  useful  animal  to  man  in  Lapland.  The  best 
localities  of  these  arctic  plants  are  in  the  great  gulfs  or  ravines 
upon  the  east  side  of  Mount  Washington. 

"  As  far  as  the  upper  limit  of  trees,  boulders  that  have  been 
transported  by  the  glacial  drift  from  more  northern  summits 
are  common.  They  rapidly  diminish  in  number  and  size  upon 
that  point,  and  have  not  been  seen  far  above  the  fourth  water- 
tank,  or  above  an  altitude  of  5,800  feet. 

"  It  is  winter  weather  on  Mount  "Washington  in  October. 
Most  of  the  necessary  preparations  having  been  made  on 
November  12th,  1870,  Mr.  Huntiugton  promptly  climbed 
Mount  Washington  and  commenced  to  take  and  record  the 
meteorological  observations.  The  other  members  of  the 
party  were  delayed  by  various  reasons — but  on  the  30th  of 
November,  1870,  four  gentlemen  of  the  party,  viz  :  Charles  B. 
Cheney,  of  Oxford,  A.  F.  Clough,  of  Warren,  C.  F.  Bracy,  of 
Warren,  and  Howard  A.  Kimball,  of  Concord,  arrived  at  the 
summit,  and  on  the  4th  of  December,  1870,  Sergeant  Theodore 
Smith,  of  the  U.  S.  Signal  Service,  detailed  as  an  observer, 
joined  the  party. 

"  November  was  making  its  exit  in  what  might  be  termed 
a  lovely  winter  day,  and  the  prospect  of  so  choice  a  time  to 
make  our  ascent,  toilsome  at  best  at  this  season,  and  very 
hazardous  except  at  special  times  in  good  weather,  inspired  us 
with  enthusiasm  more  and  more  increased  as  we  approached 
the  final  reach  that  stood  in  defiance  of  any  aid  that  could  be 
rendered  by  the  panting  steeds  that  now  bore  us  forward. 

"  At  Marshfield  we  are  three  miles  from  the  summit,  and  at 
present  all  travel  over  this  distance  must  depend  solely  upon 
human  muscle  and  energy  to  achieve.  At  this  point  we 
decided  to  make  the  ascent  at  once,  though  there  were  serious 
misgivings  on  the  part  of  some  of  us  in  view  of  the  near 
approach  of  night,  which  at  this  season,  halt-fast  two  o'clock, 


60 

P.  M.,  leaves  a  small  margin  of  the  day,  at  best  for  such  a  task 
as  stood  before  us.  In  ascending  from  this  point  we  followed 
the  railroad  track.  We  were  compelled  to  walk  upon  the  ties 
for  the  snow  was  several  feet  deep,  with  a  sharp  upward  grade 
in  some  places  rising  one  foot  in  three,  with  the  ties  three  feet 
apart  and  loaded  with  ice  and  snow  and  built  on  trestle  work 
over  gorges  of  some  25  or  30  feet  in  depth;  the  careless  eager 
stops  of  unbaffled  enthusiasm,  are  soon  compelled  to  give 
place  to  great  caution  and  the  constant  stress  of  nerve  and 
muscle.  *  *  *  *  The  end  of  the  first  mile  carrying  us 
up  to  within  one  half  mile  of  the  limit  of  wood  growth,  found 
us  in  tolerable  condition,  when  a  halt  for  breath  and  ob- 
servations discovered  to  us  an  approaching  storm  lying  on  the 
Green  Mountains  of  Vermont.  It  would  undoubtedly  strike 
us  but  we  still  hoped  we  might  press  on  and  reach  the  summit 
first.  The  thought  of  being  overtaken  by  a  furious  storm  on 
the  wintry,  shelterless  cliifs  of  Mount  Washington,  with  the 
night  about  to  enshroud  us,  was  fearfully  impressive,  and 
prompted  us  to  our  best  endeavours.  With  all  the  effort  we 
could  well  muster,  we  had  only  advanced  a  half  mile  more, 
carrying  us  fairly  above  the  wooded  region  to  the  foot  of 
*  Jacob's  Ladder,'  when  the  storm  struck  us.  There  were 
suddenly  wrapped  around  us  dense  clouds  of  frozen  vapour, 
driven  so  furiously  into  our  faces  by  the  raging  winds  as  to 
threaten  suffocation.  The  cheering  repose  of  the  elements 
but  a  moment  before,  had  now  given  place  to  what  might  well 
be  felt  as  the  power  and  hoarse  rage  of  a  thousand  furies,  and 
the  shroud  of  darkness  that  was  in  a  moment  thrown  over  us 
[ual  to  that  of  the  moonless  night.  Compelled  to 
redoubled  efforts  to  keep  our  feet  and  make  proper  advance, 
we  struggled  with  the  tempest,  though  with  such  odds  against 
us  that  we  were  repeatedly  slipping  and  getting  painful 
brui-es.  Mr.  Kimball  finding  himself  too  much  exhausted  to 
continue  th's  struggle  on  the  track,  we  all  halted  in  brief  con- 
sultation— during  which  Mr.  dough  ted  that  our  only 
hope  consisted  in  pushing  upward  with  all  our  might. 

"  Here  nine    separated,  three  of  our  party  left   the 

.,  and  Mr.  Kimball  willingly  left  behind  his  hatririiire in  order 
•itinue  tin-  ascent      I'>y  thus  leaving  the  track,  we  escaped 
liability  to  falls  and  bruises,  but  found  ourselves  often  get  (ing 
buried   to  our  waist,  in   snow,  and   forced   to   exert  our  utmost 
strength  to  drag  our-  ;t   and  advance.      \Ve  repeatedly 

called  to  Mr.  IJraoy,  who  had  kept  on  the.  track  as  we  supposed, 
but  could  get  no  answer.      The  roar  of  the  tempest  overcame 


61 

our  utmost  vocal  efforts,  and  the  clouds  of  frozen  vapour  that 
lashed  us  so  furiously  as  it  hugged  us  in  its  chilling  embrace, 
was  so  douse  that  no  object  could  be  seen  at  a  distance  of  ten 
paces.  Against  such  remorseless  blasts  no  human  being  could 
keep  integrity  of  muscle  and  remain  erect.  We  could  only 
go  on  together  a  little  way  and  then  throw  ourselves  down  for 
a  few  moments  to  recover  breath  and  strength.  AYe  had 
many  times  repeated  this,  when  Mr.  Kimball  became  so  utterly 
exhausted  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  take  another  step,  lie 
called  to  the  others  to  leave  and  save  themselves  if  possible. 
The  noble  and  emphatic  '  never,'  uttered  by  the  manly  Clough, 
whose  sturdy  muscle  was  found  ample  to  back  his  will,  aroused 
him  to  another  effort. 


.. 


The  two  stronger  gentlemen,  whose  habits  of  life  and 
superior  physical  powers  gave  hope  of  deliverance  for  them- 
selves, were  both  immovable  in  the  determination  that  our 
fate  should  be  one,  let  that  be  what  it  must. 

"The  situation  was  one  of  most  momentous  peril,  especially 
as  to  Mr.  Kimball,  whose  exhaustion  was  so  extreme  that  he 
was  wholly  indifferent  to  the  fate  that  seem  to  impend,  only 
begging  that  he  might  be  left  to  that  sleep,  from  whose 
embrace  there  was  felt  no  power  of  resistance.  Still  there  was 
a  listless  drag  onward  mostly  in  the  interests  of  his  compan- 
ions, and  in  obedience  to  their  potent  wills.  After  this  sort 
we  struggled  on  a  few  rods  at  a  time,  falling  together  between 
each  effort  to  rest  and  gain  new  strength.  At  each  halt 
Messrs.  Clough  and  Cheney  used  their  best  endeavours  by 
pounding  and  rubbing  Mr.  KimbalPs  feet  and  limbs,  and  in 
various  other  ways  endeavoured  to  promote  circulation  and 
prevent  freezing.  The  last  saving  device  was  supplied  by  a 
cord,  which  we  chanced  to  have,  and  the  end  of  this  was  made 
a  noose,  which  was  placed  in  Mr.  Kimball's  hand,  while  the 
other  end  was  passed  over  the  shoulder  of  Mr.  Clough,  who 
tugged  along  in  advance  while  Mr.  Cheney  helped  at  his  side. 
Most  of  the  last  mile  was  accomplished  in  this  manner. 

"  With  the  wind  at  70  miles  per  hour  and  the  thermometer 
down  to  7°,  as  was  found  after  arriving  at  the  Observatory, 
we  came  at  length  to  'Lizzie  Bourne's  Monument,'  only 
thirty  rods  from  the  Observatory.  One  of  our  party  shouted 
an  exultant  hurrah  at  the  glad  sight  of  this  rude  pile,  which 
was  erected  to  commemorate  the  sad  fate  of  one  who 
was  overtaken  by  the  darkness  and  bewildering  fogs  and 
chills  of  a  rude  October  night.  *  Then,'  in  the  words  of  the 


62 

eloquent  Starr  King,  'was  the  time  to  feel  the  meaning  of  that 
pile  of  stones,  which  tells  where  Miss  Bourne,  overtaken  by 
night  and  fog,  and  exhausted  by  cold,  breathed  out  her  life 
into  the  bleak  cloud.' 

"It  took  more  than  a  half  hour's  time  to  make  this  last 
thirty  rods.  Even  the  stronger  ones  had  become  wearied  by 
their  unusual  exertions,  and  had  not  this  been  the  case,  their 
progress  would  have  been  slow,  for  it  was  found  absolutely 
impossible  to  force  on  the  one  who  had  become  unable  to 
regard  his  own  peril  more  than  a  few  feet  at  a  time.  He 
would  then  sink  down  into  a  deep  sleep,  while  the  others 
would  employ  the  time  in  chafing  his  hands  and  feet,  and 
after  a  few  moments  manage  to  arouse  him  and  make  another 
struggle  onward. 

"From  Lizzie  Bourne's  Monument  to  the  summit,  Mr. 
Kimball  was  mostly  insensible  to  passing  events,  and  only 
awoke  to  clear  consciousness,  as  from  a  dream,  to  find  himself 
in  bed  in  a  comfortable  room  in  the  Observatory  building,  safe 
from  the  dreadful  tempest,  and  owing  his  life  to  the  unyield- 
ing devotion  of  these  brave  men  who  scorned  to  save  them- 
selves at  the  expense  of  a  comrade  left  to  perish.  Mr.  Bracy, 
who  had  got  separated  from  us  during  our  earlier  struggles, 
had  got  in  about  7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  our  own  arrival  being  at 
7£  o'clock,  P.  M.  He  had  kept  on  the  track. 

"  Thus  at  least  three  hours  of  this  ascent  were  made  amid 
the  darkness  of  a  moonless  night  in  the  howling  tempest,  the 
horrors  of  which  will  be  more  readily  appreciated  when  it  is 
remembered  that  a  wind  of  45  miles  per  hour  blew  down 
buildings  and  uprooted  trees  in  2s"ew  York  City.  Twenty- 
five  miles  per  hour  added  make  a  most  fearful  hurricane.  We 
were  abundantly  supplied  with  nourishment  on  our  ascent, 
chiefly  in  the  form  of  a  strong  decoction  of  tea,  of  which  we 
ionally  partook.  This  is  found  to  be  by  tar  the  most 
potent  and  effective  stimulant  that  can  be  used  in  such  con- 
ditions of  extreme  exposure. 

"  Mr.  Huntington,  aroused  by  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Bracy,  sallied 
out  with  a  lantern  in  search  of  us,  but  found  his  best  exertions 
of  little  avail,  the  storm  being  so  fierce  and  thick,  he  could 
neither  make  himself  seen  nor  heard  beyond  a  few  paces,  and 
they  were  regarding  us  as  probably  lost,  though  they  were  pre- 
paring for  another  efi'ort  in  our  behalf,  when  we  arrived. 


63 

"A  sleepless  night  gave  plaec  at  length  to  a  day  thick  and 
stormy,  and  for  several  days  the  clouds  gathered  densely 
around  us,  and  the  storm  continued  to  rage,  during  which  we 
•were  recovering  from  '  the  wear  and  tear'  of  our  adventures, 
and  recruiting  for  the  work  in  store  for  us." 

The  railroad  depot,  in  a  part  of  which  this  party  passed  the 
winter  of  1871,  was  a  wooden  unfinished  building,  sixty  feet 
long  by  twenty-two  feet  wide  and  stands  nearly  north  and 
south.  It  has  eleven  feet  posts  and  the  elevation  of  the  ridge 
pole  is  twenty-five  feet,  the  roof  of  the  usual  form  in  ordinary 
buildings.  The  apartment  occupied  by  the  party  is  situated 
in  the  southwest  corner  of  this  building.  It  is  a  room  about 
twenty  feet  long,  eleven  feet  wide  and  eight  feet  high.  The 
large  part  of  the  depot  forms  a  sort  of  vestibule  to  this  room, 
and  is  wholly  inclosed  except  at  the  easterly  end  of  the 
northern  face,  where  the  outer  door  is  situated. 

An  extract  from  Mr.  Kimball's  diary,  reads :  "  December 
5th,  1870.  The  day  is  beautiful,  we  are  perfectly  comfortable 
outside  without  overcoats,  and  on  the  east  side  of  the  Observatory \ 
the  frost  is  thawing  quite  rapidly.  Thermometer  22°  Fahrenheit." 

£Tow  why,  with  the  thermometer  at  22°,  should  the  thawing 
of  the  frost  be  confined  to  the  east  side  of  the  Observatory,  when 
the  sun  was  shining  all  around  the  building  on  the  snow  or 
frost  without  thawing  it  elsewhere  away  from  the  building? 
If  the  thawing  was  the  result  of  the  heat  rays  of  the  sun,  so 
improperly  termed,  why  was  not  the  thawing  general  all  over 
the  summit  of  the  mountain,  instead  of  being  confined  to  one 
locality  ? 

The  explanation,  I  think,  is  this,  viz:  the  early  morning 
rays  of  sunlight  being  nearly  horizontal,  impinged  with  a 
velocity  of  186,000  miles  per  second  perpendicularly  on  the 
vertical  wall  of  the  Observatory,  partly  covered  with  frost 
work ;  great  friction  was  produced  by  the  impact  and  positive 
electricity  evolved  ;  this  electricity  rushing  to  the  conjunction 
or  embrace  of  the  negative  electricity  of  the  frost  work,  when 
in  contact  with  it  developed  heat  which  thawed  the  frost  work 
over  the  other  parts  of  the  summit  of  the  mountain;  these 
morning  rays  of  sunlight  either  passed  horizontally  or  fell 
upon  them  with  such  small  angles  of  incidence,  as  to  be  wholly 
reflected  into  the  upper  atmosphere. 

Mr.  Kimball  continues  :  "  we  have  succeeded  in  making  some 


64 

very  good  (photographic)  views,  but  not  as  largo  a  variety  as 
we  intend  to   have  before  we   complete   our  winter's   work. 

*  *     *     "We  have  also  made  three  negative*  of  clouds,  which 
were  at  least  half  a  mile  below  us.     They  resemble  the  waves 
on  the  ocean,  only  the  cloud  waves  are  in  some  places  twenty 
or  thirty  miles  long.     They  pass  over  a  range  of  mountains, 
and  take  a  long  sweep  across  the  valleys  and  then  rise  over 
the  mountains  on  the  opposite;  and  as  a  general  thing,  after 
passing  over  and  coming  down  on  the  other  side,  they  break 
up  in  small  clusters  resembling,  on  a  grand  scale,  the  surf  from 
breaking  waves.     We  have  made  some  photographs  of  this. 

*  *     *     *     A\\  these  clouds  move  rapidly  from  the  south- 
west, probably  at  a  velocity  of  forty  miles  an  hour,  while  on 
this  summit,  it  blows  generally  from  the  northwest.     We  have 
made  a  view  which  shows  a  small  portion  of  a  remarkable 
cloud  effect  or  phenomenon.     It  was  like  a  parallel  belt  on 
the  distant  horizon,  whose  circuit  must  have  been  more  than 
a  thousand  miles.     It  resembled  the  tire  of  an  immense  cart- 
wheel, (we  occupying  the  place  for  the  hub,)  which  was  beyond 
and    encircled   all  the   lakes,    mountains,    &c.     It   was    even 
beyond  Mount  Katahdin — at   the  south,  its  upper  edge  was 
parallel  with  the  point  farthest  north.     At  noon  it  appears  to 
be  approaching  us  as  a  centre,  and  as  it  nears  us,  it  breaks  up 
in  magnificent  great    thunderheads,  minus  the  thunder, — all 
this  time  our  view  is  becoming  more  limited.     *     *     *     All 
this  time  it  was  snowing  below,  but  we  knew  nothing  of  it 
until  night.     Our   view  of  the  surrounding  mountains  lasts 
only  a  short  time  longer,  for  we  see  to  the  west  thick  heavy 
clouds,    marching   upon    us,  and    by   4    o'clock,   we   become 

!y  shrouded — we  cannot  see  Tip  Top  House  from  the 
Observatory  not  many  feet  distant. 

"December  12th,  1870.  This  morning  the  wind  was  south, 
iiangcd  to  the  northwest  in  the  afternoon;  at  ten,  A.  M., 
there  was  a  bow  in  the  clouds,  and  at  noon  there  were  in  ad- 
dition three  supernumerary  bows  which  remained  for  an  hour 
and  a  half,  and  some  of  the  time  they  were  remarkably 
distinct.  Late  in  the  afternoon  the  sky  was  intensely  blue." 

From  their  journal  we  make  the  following  extracts,  viz  : 

* 

"licccmbor  21st,  1870.  Messrs.  Kimball  and  Thompson  (a 
visitor,)  took  an  observation  from  the  roof  of  the  Tip-Top 
House;  wind  00  miles  per  hour.  They  were  out  but  live 
minutes,  yet  their  coats,  caps  and  hair  were  covered  with  frost 


65 

and  Mr.  Thompson  had  slightly  frozen  a  finger.  Later,  the 
wind  hud  fallen  to  30  miles  JKT  hoar,  an  1  no.v,  eleven  o'clock, 
1*.  M.,  it  i.s  moderate  for  Mount  Washington. 

"1870,  December  23d.  A  cold  morning,  thermometer  zero, 
but  we  don't  feel  the  cold  as  sensibly  us  in  the  lower  regions. 

''December  24th.  Yesterday  afternoon  and  late  at  night  a 
4  snow  bank'  lay  along  the  south;  this  forenoon,  enow  was 
falling  with  a  temperature  of — 13°,  at  times  during  the  day  the 
wind  was  as  high  as  70  miles  an  hour,  consequently,  we  were 
confined  to  the  house.  It  is  cold  to-night,  (now  nine  o'clock, 
I'.  M.,)  the  thermometer  — 15°,  and  only  42°  in  the  room, 
although  we  have  two  fires. 

"  December  25th.  There  were  no  clouds  above  or  around 
the  summit.  Below,  and  but  a  little  lower  than  this  peak,  the 
clouds  were  dense  and  covered  an  extensive  tract  of  country. 
Through  the  less  dense  portion  of  the  lighter  clouds  the  sun's 
rays  gave  a  peculiar  rose  tint,  extremely  beautiful  in  effect. 
*  *  *  *  About  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.,  Mr.  K.  and  myself 
went  out  for  an  observation.  We  had  the  pleasure  of  witness- 
ing the  formation  of  several  coronfe,  sometimes  single,  but 
oftener  three;  even  on  one  occasion  four  distinct  circles  appear- 
ing and  disappearing  so  rapidly  that  it  was  impossible  to  more 
than  catch  a  glimpse  of  form  and  colour.  It  was  a  phenomenon 
of  rare  beauty. 

"December  29th,  1870.  The  wind  has  been  increasing  all 
day.  At  7  o'clock,  A.  M.,  observations  :  wind,  46  miles  per 
hour;  at  2  o'clock,  P.  M.,  57  miles;  at  4  o'clock,  P.  M.,  72 
miles;  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  46  miles;  and  at  9  o'clock,  P.  M., 
nearly  calm ;  a  great  change  in  14  hours,  especially  in  the 
last  two  hours.  Barometer  has  fallen  rapidly  all  day. 

"December  30th,  1870.  The  morning  is  calm,  clear  and 
beautiful.  It  is  what  we  have  waited  a  month  for.  \Ye  com- 
menced work  making  negatives  at  sunrise.  In  the  morning 
we  made  a  few  8  by  10  negatives,  but  as  we  were  making  the 
last  of  them  the  wind  freshened  up,  and  we  could  not  make  as 
many  as  we  wished.  *  *  *  Before  I  close  to-day's  memo- 
randa I  must  speak  of  the  splendid  view  we  had  after  the  wind, 
by  blowing  so  fiercely,  obliged  us  to  quit  work.  We  could  see 
distinctly  hundreds  of  mountains,  lakes,  ponds,  &c.  Off  to  the 
northeast  in  the  distance — one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant 
— we  see  Mount  Katahdin,  the  highest  mountain  in  Maine,  and 


66 

a  little  to  the  north  we  see  mountains  which  apparently  arc 
much  farther  away  than  Mount  Katahdin,  and  must  be  in  the 
upper  part  of  Maine,  near  Canada.  We  never  before  saw  the 
M  nearly  as  plain  as  to-day;  we  could  sec  a  great  distance 
-i.'  <  )lf  to  the  southwest  we  could  seeKearsarge  mountain 
and  Monadnock,  and  over  the  (Jreen  mountains,  the  .Adiron- 
dack* and  Lake  Champlain,  in  northern  New  York,  were 
distinctly  visible.  About  2  o'clock, P.  M.,  I  noticed  a  longhazy 
line  over  the  ocean ;  soon  it  crew  larger  and  then  I  could  see 
it  was  nearing  us,  and  in  an  hour  it  was  within  40  miles,  and 
we  could  see  it  as  a  vast  sea  of  cumulus  clouds.  The  wind  was 
increasing,  and  had  changed  from  the  east  to  the  south,  and  it 
carried  the  approaching  clouds  and  storm  to  the  north  of  us. 
"We  were  thankful  to  see  it  go  by  without  striking  us,  for  it  is 
grand  to  behold  but  not  desirable  for  a  covering.  To-night 
we  have' some  of  the  effects  of  it  in  the  wind,  which,  as  F  write, 
is  blowing  a  most  violent  hurricane,  making  the  Observatory 
creak.  A  few  hours  ago  the  wind  was  scarcely  noticeable; 
now  its  velocity  is  over  eighty  miles  an  hour,  and  for  a  wonder 
it  comes  from  the  south,  instead  of  northwest  as  usual,  and  as 
a  natural  consequence  it  tears  off  all  the  loose  ice  and  frost 
from  the  Observatory.  It  seems  as  if  we  were  at  sea  in  a 
severe  gale,  and  broken  ice  and  timbers  were  beating  against 
our  ship,  and  at  times  our  building  shakes  like,  a  vessel  in  a 
storm.  Contrary  to  what  ordinary  experience  would  seem  to 
tc;ich,  the  north  side  of  the  building  is  less  exposed  to  the  fury 
of  the  element  than  any  other."  This  is  owing  to  its  having 
but  one  electricity. 

Xo\v,  why  does  not  the  north  wind,  or  the  northwest  wind, 
produce,  similar  effects?  The  sun  shines  upon  both  winds 
alike,  and  if  it  sends  down  heat  to  this  planet,  the  northwest 
wind  should  be  as  warm  as  the  south  wind,  andshould  tear  off 
the  frost-work  from  buildings  and  rocks  just  as  the  south  wind 
docs.  But  no  such  effects  are  observed  during  the  prcva- 
ience  of  these  northern  winds  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  only  while 
northern  winds  are  blowing  in  winter  that  this  frost- 
work is  formed. 

The  explanation  I  conceive  to  be  this :  the  southern  winds 
coming  from  u  warm  atmosphere  are  positively  electrified, 
and  when  they  reach  the  frost,  work  on  the  buildings  or  rocks 
oppositely  electrified,  their  impact  produces  friefi.m,  which 
evolving  more  positive  electricity,  develops  heat,  t  hat  detaches 
the  frost  work  from  its  adhesions,  breaks  it  into  pieces,  and 


67 

finally  melts  into  water — while  other  frost  work  protected 
from  the  south  wind  remains  firm  and  unaffected,  the  tem- 
perature of  the  atmosphere  being  below  the  freezing  point  of 
water.  "A  telegraphic  wire  connected  the  Observatory  with 
Marshfield,  a  distance  of  three  miles,  where  it  is  joined  with 
the  Western  Union  Company's  line,  at  Littleton,  twenty-three 
miles  farther.  The  wire  has  frequently  been  charged  with 
atmospheric  electricity,  especially  in  the  afternoon  of  the  7th  of 
January,  1871,  when,  on  account  of  the  high  tension  of  these 
currents,  it  became  utterly  unmanageable.  When  the  key 
was  opened,  the  flow  of  the  current  still  continued,  exhibiting 
bright  sparks,  leaping  from  one  platinum  point  to  the  other. 
After  dark,  no  auroral  display  could  be  seen.  There  is  also  a 
wire  connecting  the  summit  with  the  Glen  House,  which  is 
detached  from  the  poles  and  laid  upon  the  ground  during  the 
winter,  to  protect  it  from  the  violent  winds  prevailing  at  this 
season.  We  had  it  attached  to  an  instrument,  and,  although 
no  battery  was  used,  we  discovered  that  it  was  sometimes 
charged  with  electric  currents,  which  deflected  the  needle 
considerably.  The  Glen  wire  was  broken  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  the  summit,  and  the  one  down  the  railway  had 
parted  at  about  the  same  distance,  thus  making  the  phenomenon 
quite  remarkable. 

"  1871,  January  10th.  After  ten,  A.  M.,  the  summit  was  free 
from  clouds,  but  below  masses  of  clouds  were  driven  along  the 
valleys  and  over  the  lower  summits.  The  clouds  about  and 
over  gave  grand  effects  of  light  and  shade  along  the  mountain 
range — they  were  particularly  fine  on  Adams  and  Jefferson 
and  near  the  Glen.  The  snow  is  nearly  all  off' the  houses  and 
the  rocks — a  great  change  in  three  days'  time.  I  cannot  let 
this  day  pass  without  a  mention  of  the  high  temperature;  at 
one  o'clock,  P.  M.  it  was  37°.  Like  April  it  seemed,  but 
who  knows  what  it  will  be  to-morrow  ? 

"January  14th.  Last  night  we  saw  a  fine  aurora,  broken 
arches  with  streamers ,  never  before  was  one  apparently  so 
near;  it  certainly  did  look  as  though  it  was  within  reach. 

"  January  16th.  Still  raining ;  at  eleven  o'clock  this  fore- 
noon, Mr.  8.  started  out  on  a  voyage  of  discovery,  but  it  rained 
so  hard  and  the  walking  was  so  difficult  that  he  soon  came 
back.  *  *  *  Mr.  II.  went  down  to  the  spring  to-day  and 
brought  up  a  pail  of  water.  A  week  ago  this  waa  an  arctic 
region,  now  it  is  more  like  April  in  the  valleys  of  ]STew 
Hampshire. 


68 

"  January  17th.  The  wind  was  high  during  the  night,  say 
eighty  miles  per  hour  ;  at  7  o'clock,  A.  M.,  to-day,  only  75  miles 
per  hour,  strong  enough  however  to  compel  Mr.  II.  to  sit 
while  he  measured  the  force  of  the  wind  that  he  might  not 
be  blown  over  into  Tuckerman's  ravine.  *  *  *  *  Has 
blown  stiffly  all  day,  yet  we  have  taken  the  air  several  times; 
pleasant  walks  in  the  face  of  a  fifty  mile  breeze.  Perfectly 
clear  at  sunset.  Had  one  of  the  best  views  of  the  shadow  of 
Mount  Washington  on  the  sky  yet  obtained.  The  mountains 
far  and  near  look  dull  and  gray  now  since  the  rains. 

"  1871,  January  19.  Mr.  H.  railed  us  out,  before  sunrise,  to 
see  the  beauty  of  the  morning;  in  truth  it  \vas  wicked  to  miss 
such  a  glorious  view  as  we  had.  Perfectly  clear,  and  nearly 
calm.  Never  before  have  E  seen  the  shadow  of  the  mountain 
so  grand  on  llie  western  sky,  never  so  charming  the  purple 
tints  at  break  of  day.  Never  so  impressive  have  been  the 
shaded  outlines,  the  lights  and  shadows  on  the  mountains  and 
in  the  valleys,  as  on  ihis  memorable  morning.  Sunset  was 
but  the  complement  of  the  morning,  and  the  evening  is  beau- 
tiful as  ever  night  can  be,  the  stars  shine  with  a  light  as  soft 
as  June,  all,  all  i?  beautiful. 

"  January  22,  1871.  Having  a  gale  to-day,  and  not  only  a  high 
wind  but  a  temperature  below  any  thing  I  have  ever  expe- 
rienced before;  now,  at  nine,  P.M.,  — 34  degrees  inside  the  door; 
at  two,  I'.  M.,  wind  72 miles  per  hour.  Professor  II.  measured 
the  velocity,  he  had  to  sit  with  a  line  around  him,  myself  at 
the  other  end  indoors  as  an  anchor;  even  then  it  was  impos- 
sible for  him  to  keep  his  position.  Temperature — 31  degrees. 
I  put  up  a  pendulum,  this  morning,  in  our  room,  it  is  four  feet 
long,  and  the  rod  passes  through  a  sheet  of  cardboard,  on 
which  are  marked  the  points  of  the  compass.  The  oscillations, 
when  the  wind  blew  in  gusts,  were  in  every  direction,  chang- 
ing suddenly,  and  sometimes  had  a  rotary  motion.  "When  the 
wind  was  steady,  the  oscillations  were  northwest  and  southeast. 
"With  two  fires  the  room  is  cold  to  night. 

"January  23,  1871.  The  wind  raged  all  night.  The  house 
rocked  fearfully,  towards  morning  the  wind  ceased,  and  all 
day  it  h;.  nearly  calm.  The  temperature  outside — 43 

degn-es.  J'rofessor  II.  and  myself  Hat  up  all  night  to  keep  the 
tires  going  The  pendulum  gave  oscillations  of  an  inch  and  a 
half  at  times  during  the  night.  Temperature  to-night  at  ten 
o'clock — 40  degrees;  a  changeable  climate  this. 


GO 

"January  31,  1871.  The  most  glorious  sunrise  this  winter. 
To  the  cast  was  a  sea  of  clouds  broken  and  much  lower  than 
usual.  The  protruding  peaks  resembled  islands,  more  than 
ever  before ;  over  northern  ISTew  Hampshire  and  Maine,  and 
along  the  coast,  the  clouds  were  very  dense,  but  their  upper 
surface,  as  the  sun  shone  across  them,  was  of  dazzling  bright- 
ness, while  singular  forms  of  cirrus  clouds  overcast  the  sky. 
Low  in  the  west  it  was  intensely  black,  and  detached  ma-sr-; 
of  clouds  floated  along  the  northern  horizon.  For  an  hour 
after  sunrise  all  these  cloud  forms  were  constantly  changing 
in  colour — purple  and  crimson,  leaden  hues  and  rose  tints, 
almost  black  and  dazzling  white. 

"February  1,1871.  Clouds  on  the  summit  till  noon,  when  it 
suddenly  cleared  up.  Early  in  the  forenoon,  the  wind  was 
fully  50  miles  per  hour,  at  noon  it  was  nearly  calm,  and  till 
nine,  P.  M.,  not  above  20  miles  per  hour.  At  nine,  P.  M.,the 
thermometer  indicated  — 16  degrees. 

"From  3.30,  P.  M.,  to  sunset,  there  were  the  finest  cloud  dis- 
plays possible.  Eastward,  heavy  masses  of  clouds,  in  color  from 
gray  to  an  intense  black.  "Westward,  detached  cirro-stratus, 
presenting  every  shade  and  colour  ;  along  the  northern  horizon 
a  clear  light  rested;  the  west  was  burning  bright  in  crimson, 
purple,  and  gold,  while  far  south,  fading  out  toward  the  east 
into  gray,  the  colour  was  a  delicate  rose  tint.  Below,  to  the 
west,  far  as  we  could  see,  the  whole  country  was  covered  with 
cloud.  The  icy  peaks  glow  and  glisten  in  the  bright  sunlight. 
The  transitions  of  shades  and  tints,  the  colours  burning  into 
the  radiant  sunset,  surpassing  any  thing  we  have  seen  yet  for 
a  sunset  scene,  mark  this  as  a  day  never  to  be  forgotten — as  I 
write,  it  seems  like  a  dream. 

"1871,  February  2d.  All  day  the  wind  has  been  light,  and 
it  was  nearly  calm  this  evening  till  half  an  hour  since,  when, 
without  any  warning,  (except  the  falling  in  the  barometer,) 
the  gale  began,  not  with  a  rising  wind,  but  with  a  single  blast 
that  shook  the  house  to  its  foundations.  *  *  *  ls"ow,  at 
11  o'clock,  P.  M.,  the  wind  has  risen  to  the  dignity  of  a  gale. 
The  temperature  — 20°  out  of  doors. 

"Friday,  February  3d.  Well,  it  did  blow  last  night,  making 
some  of  the  time  such  a  racket  out-doors  and  in-doors  too,  for 
that  matter,  that  sleep  was  out  of  the  question.  The  wind  must 
have  been  as  high  as  90  miles  per  hour  during  several  of  the 
heaviest  gusts.  For  a  change  to-day,  we  get  the  most  severe 


70 

snow  storm  of  the  winter  so  far.  The  wind  is  northwest,  the 
point  from  which  our  storms  and  hurricanes  come.  At  no 
time  has  the  temperature  been  higher  than  5°;  it  was  — 25°  this 
morning  at  7  o'clock. 

"Saturday,  February  4th,  9  o'clock,  P.  M.  The  wind  rising 
toward  morning  has  held  its  own  all  day,  at  no  time  being 
below  75  miles,  and  since  8.30,  acts  as  if  it  was  ambitious  to 
attain  the  90  miles  per  hour  standard.  At  7  o'clock,  A.  M., 
temperature  • — o-'>°;  from  5  o'clock,  P.  M.,  to  this  last  observa- 
tion it  has  gradually  worked  down  to  — 40°.  We  have  not 
suffered  from  the  cold  simply  because  we  have  not  exposed 
ourselves  to  it.  In  the  room  at  no  time  has  tjie  temperature 
been  lower  than  34°,  and  most  of  the  time  we  have  managed 
to  keep  it  up  to  about  60°.  To  do  this,  we  have  the  stoves  at 
a  red  heat;  the  thermometer  hangs  precisely  five  feet  from 
the  stove;  ten  feet  from  the  stove  at  the  floor,  to-day,  the 
temperature  was  only  12°,  at  the  same  time  was  65°  in  other 
parts  of  the  room.  Midnight — really  there  is  quite  a  breeze 
just  now.  Some  of  the  gusts,  from  what  we  know  of  the 
measured  force,  must  be  iully  up  to  100  miles  per  hour.  In 
fact  it  is  a  first-class  hurricane.  The  wind  is  northwest,  and 
as  the  house  is  broadside  to  it,  the  full  force  is  felt ;  at  times 
it  seems  as  if  every  thing  was  going  to  wreck.  We  go  to  the 
door  and  look  out;  it  is  the  most  wo  can  do  ;  to  step  beyond, 
with  nothing  for  a  hold  fast,  one  would  take  passage  on  the 
wings  of  the  wind  in  the  direction  of  Tuckerman's  ravine. 
However  unwillingly  one  might  go,  such  would  be  the  result 
if  he  should  venture  outside,  so  irresistible  is  the  force  of  the 
wind.  What  varied  sound  the  wind  has  as  it  changes,  now 
howling,  screeching,  roaring  as  though  the  building  was  sur- 
rounded by  demoniac  spirits,  bent  upon  our  destruction.  We 
shout  -  the  room  to  be  heard.  Xow  it  suddenly  lulls, 

and  moaning  and  sighing  it  dies  away;  then  quickly  gathering 

_cth,  it  blows  as  if  it  would  hurl  the  house  from  the 
summit.  The  timbers  creak  and  groan  and  the  windows 
rattle;  the  walls  bend  inward;  and  as  the  wind  lets  go  its  hold, 

;nd  with  a  jerk  that  starts  the  joints  again.  The  noise  is 
like  rifle  firing  in  fifty  different  directions,  at  the  same  moment 
in  the  room — a  moment  ago  close  by  me  .  here,  leaning 

against  the  wall,  now  in  the  outer  room  or  up  aloft,  and  out- 
side as  well.  Then  there,  is  the  trembling  and  groaning  of 
the  whole  building,  which  is  constant.  Everything  movable 
:  the  move,  books  drops  from  the  shelves,  we  pick  them 
up,  reph>  only  to  do  it  again  and  again.  The  tempera- 

ture is  now  — 10°. 


71 

"  Sunday,  February  5th.  From  one  to  two  o'clock,  A.  M.,  the 
wind  was  higher  than  during  the  early  part  of  the  niirht. 
Some  of  the  gusts  must  have  heen  above  100,  possibly  110 
miles  per  hour.  The  tempest  roared  and  thundc'ivd.  It  had 
precisely  the  sound  of  the  ocean  waves  In-caking  on  a  rocky 
shore,  and  the  building  had  the  motion  of  a  ship  scudding 
before  a  gale.  At  3  o'clock,  A  M.,  the  temperature  had 
fallen  to  — 59°,  and  the  barometer  stood  at  22.810,  attached 
thermometer  62°.  Barometer  was  lowest  yesterday  at  8  A.  M ., 
when  it  was  22.508,  and  attached  thermometer  32°.  ]STow,  7  A. 
M.,  the  thermometer  indicates  — 25°,  and  the  wind  has  fallen  to 
70  miles  per  hour.  By  accident,  the  spirit  thermometer  has  not 
yet  been  received.  But  this  has  been  the  only  day  when  the 
mercurial  instrument  has  not  been  perfectly  reliable.  The 
valleys  are  full  of  stratus  clouds ;  charged  with  frost  as  they 
are,  occasionally  sweeping  over  the  summit,  they  completely 
cover  one  in  a  moment,  hair,  beard  and  clothing;  when  the 
face  is  exposed  it  feels  like  the  touch  of  hot  iron.  To  breathe 
this  frosty  air  is  very  unpleasant.  A  full  inhalation  induces  a 
severe  coughing  fit. 

"  Monday,  February  6th,  9  A.  M.  Talked  over  the  events  of 
the  past  night  at  the  breakfast  table.  *  *  *  Of  all  the  nights 
since  this  party  came  here,  the  last  exceeds  every  one.  9  P. 
M. ;  it  has  been  a  rough  day,  down  in  the  world  people  would 
say  a  severe  one,  so  should  we  but  for  the  recollection  of  last 
night;  our  coal  bin  is  under  two  feet  of  snow,  and  anywhere 
in  the  room,  that  snow  is  six  inches  deep.  The  highest  tem- 
perature is  to-day  12°,  and  the  lowest  now,  at  9  o'clock,  P.  M., 
is  2°,  a  very  acceptable  change — wind  50  miles  in  the  fore- 
noon, now  20  miles  per  hour,  is  good  as  a  calm.  It  is  clear, 
and  the  moonlight  is  that  of  the  mountain,  seen  only  at  this  or 
higher  elevations. 

"  Tuesday,  February  7.  A  glorious  sunrise  ;  a  quite  warm 
day,  and  at  sunset  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  1st;  tempera- 
ture at  2  o'clock,  P.  M.,  62°  in  the  sun;  change  of  temperature 
since  Sunday  of  121°." 

These  sudden  and  great  variations  of  temperature  in  the 
same  latitude  elevation  above  the  sea,  and  identical  locality, 
in  short  spaces  of  time,  are  strong  evidences  that  the  tempera- 
ture of  our  atmosphere  is  exclusively  to  be  attributed  to 
electrical  causes  within  it,  and  not  to  any  supposed  rays  of 
heat  emanating  from  the  sun. 


72 

"Tuesday,  February  7th.  I  have  given  some  time  this  after- 
oon  to  the  study  of  cloud  formations.  I  >ays  like  this  a' 
rare  that  we  improve  every  opportunity  for  investigation. 
(iales,  storms,  hurricanes,  all  clear  off  with  a  north  wind — a 
wind  gentle  and  soft  as  the  south  wind  of  the  lower  regions. 
How  can  this  be  explained?  It  is  S.  S.  W.  to-night  and  2 
miles  per  hour;  a  marked  contrast  to  Sunday  morning.' 

Let  us  attempt  an  explanation  of  this  phenomenon  :  "When 
masses  of  clouds,  freighted  with  moisture,  and  at  different 
elevations,  approach  each  other,  attracted  by  their  opposite 
electricities,  heat  is  evolved  by  their  conjunction.  The  watery 
vapour  constituting  the  clouds  undergoes  a  radical  change; 
the  atmospheric  air,  which  holds  the  water  in  suspension, 
absorbing  the  heat  that  is  evolved  by  the  conjunction  of  the 
opposite  electricities  of  the  clouds  in  commixture,  is  so  greatly 
expanded  and  rarefied  that  its  molecules  can  no  longer  sustain 
the  particles  of  water  with  which  they  had  been  associated  ; 
this  attenuated  air,  thus  heated,  leaves  the  watery  particles, 
and  being  positively  electrified,  is  attracted  by  the  opposite 
electricity  of  the  higher  atmosphere  and  ascends  instantly  into 
it,  while  the  water  being  negatively  electrified  is  repelled  from 
the  air  above,  and  begins  to  fall  in  sheets,  which  soon  separate 
into  drops,  repelling  each  other,  and  carrying  to  the  earth  the 
electricity  in  a  latent  form  with  which  they  were  associated. 
When  the  clouds  have  thus  discharged  all  their  water  as  hail, 
snow  or  rain,  to  the  earth,  the  atmosphere  in  which  they 
iloated  becomes  very  dry  and  electrical.  The  north  wind, 
warmed  by  the  heated  air  which  has  escaped  from  the  clouds 
when  they  met,  is  attracted  to  the  spaces  before  occupied  by 
the  clouds  in  the  direction  of  the  ocean  and  becomes  the 
gentle,  balmy  air  described  by  tie  rvers,  and  as  dry  air 

'ricity  always  opposed  to  that  of  moist  air,  the 
north  wind  at  Mount  Washington  always  is  attracted  to  the 
Atla;  .;ii  tn  the  south  of  the  mountain,  and  storms  thus 

terminate  in  that  locality  with  a  north  wind. 

"  W  lay,  February  8th.     Ten  o'clock,  P.  M.     There  is 

evidently  a   snow   storm   along  ti  .    the   imrthern   < 

within  lifty  miles  of  us.     Thi-  ild  see  the  storm 

moved    ea-tward.      It    was   cloudy  and  clear  by  turns  on 

the  lower  current  ofcloiid  rested  at  times 

us.      The  valh-vs  i-a>t  were    full,  and   the    upper    stratum 

Mintry   as   far  as   eouM    be   seen.      Wind 

W.,  from  -0  to  50    miles  per  hour.     Temperature  from 


73 

14°, jit  7  o  dock  A.  M.,  to  20    at  -2  !'.  M.    Interesting 
the  progress  of  the  storm  and  to  sec-  the  lower  current  of  cloud 
driven  by  an  easterly  wind,  running  under  the  higher  stratum 
which  of  course  is  toward  the  northeast. 

Let  us  here  stop  to  admire  the  infinite  wisdom  of  the 
Creator,  who,  using  the  attractive  forces  of  his  electricities  to 
gather  and  collect  the  \vatery  vapours  of  the  atmosphere  into 
clouds,  disperses  them  by  the  repellent  forces  of  these  same 
electricities  and  scatters  in  this  way  their  manifold  watery 
blessings  over  greatly  increased  areas  of  the  surface  of  the 
earth. 

"  Thursday,  February  16th.  A  storm  of  snow  and  rain.  It 
rains  here,  with  the  thermometer  at  22°,  as  it  did  to-day,  and 
snows  with  it  at  30°,  as  might  be  expected.  Why  it  should 
rain  at  22°  is  hard  to  explain.  Wind  steady;  southwest 
through  the  day;  but,  at  8.20  P.  M.,  changed  suddenly  to 
northwest  in  gusts,  60  to  80  miles  per  hour.  Forgot  to  men- 
tion last  night,  that  at  6.30  P.  M.  I  read  from  the  'Atlantic' 
in  the  open  air.  Our  days  are  about  46  minutes  longer  than 
they  are  at  the  sea  level." 

The  warm  southwest  wind  explains  the  rain  at  22°,  which 
was  probably  the  temperature  outside  of  the  column  of  warm 
air  brought  up  by  the  southwest  wind. 

"  Sunday,  February  19th.  A  bright,  sunny  day,  clear  and 
calm,  yet  the  temperature  was  at  no  time  higher  than  8V 
"Where  was  the  sun's  heat  ? 

"  Tuesday,  February  21st.  When  S.  left  this  morning  the 
thermometer  read  — 4°,  and  wind  20  miles  per  hour;  at  the 
Gulf  Tank  it  was  so  warm  he  had  to  lay  aside  overcoat  and 
gloves ;  no  wind  there ;  the  snow  was  melting  and  the  water 
running  down  the  centre  rail;  quite  a  contrast  to  the  summit, 
only  one  mile  distant — meteorologically  speaking,  he  was  300 
miles  south  of  his  mountain  home,  though  in  sight  of  it.  We 
took  a  walk.  Fine  weather  for  a  change.  Beautiful  cloud 
views  this  afternoon.  Light  fleecy  clouds  floating  over  Mount 
Monroe.  Dissolved  before  reaching  Tuckermau's  ravine.  They 
passed  between  us  and  the  sun,  showing  the  prismatic  colors  ; 
then  as  they  rolled  eastward,  gradually  faded  out  and  changed 
to  a  cold  gray.  The  transitions  of  light  and  shade  were  inex- 
pressibly beautiful,  enough  to  give  sensations  of  pleasure  to 
the  dullest  observer,  and  drive  an  artist  crazy  with  delight. 


74 

The  buildings  are  cased  in  ice  and  frost  work  of  most  elegant 
forms,  resembling  rocks,  flowers,  leaves,  shells  and  the  wings 
of  birds.' 

"  February  24th.  From  9  o'clock  A.  M.  to  3  P.  M.  the  tem- 
perature varied  but  a  degree  or  two  from  37°  ;  the  barometer 
steady. 

"February  27th.  This  time  we  are  favoured  with  a  rain 
storm,  pouring  when  it  was  calm,  and  in  driving  sheets  after 
the  wind  rose  to  84  miles  per  hour.  At  9  A.  M.  it  changed 
to  snow,  and  then,  by  turns,  rain  for  a  moment,  then  quickly 
changing  to  snow,  and  suddenly  rain  again;  but  the  snow 
obtained  the  mastery. 

"February  28.  It  cleared  off  early  in  the  morning.  "Wind 
from  50  to  70  miles  per  hour.  The  mean  temperature,  zero. 

"  March  3.  A  storm  seemed  to  be  brewing  last  night  at  a 
late  hour,  and  early  it  came,  a  heavy  rain  storm.  Towards 
noon  the  wind  rose,  and  at  one  P.  M.,  it  blew  9G  miles  per 
hour.  How  the  wind  roared  in  the  flue  !  How  the  house 
shook !  Had  to  shout  across  the  room  to  be  heard.  It  was 
grand,  however.  From  4  o'clock  P.  M.  the  wind  abated. 

"  March  23.  At  9  P.  M.,  snow  squalls  to  the  northeast,  and 
the  clouds  gradually  settling  in  the  valleys.  *  *  *  *  By 
2  P.  M.  the  mountain  was  in  the  clouds.  They  were  at  a 
higher  elevation  than  has  generally  been  the  case — cirro 
stratus;  color  gray;  uniform  in  density  nearly  over  the  entire 
field  of  view.  *  *  *  *  Evidently  the  lower  current  was 
from  the  east,  while  the  wind  on  the  summit  was  west  north- 
*  *  *  *  rpne  C1OUC19  passed  over  Mount  Adams, 
and  later  over  the  dividing  ridge,  between  Mounts  Washington 
and  Clay.  They  seemed  to  curve,  as  they  passed  over  these 
mountain  top*,  us  though  the  upper  currents  of  air  conformed 
to  their  irregularities  of  surfaee."  [The  mountains  and  the 
clouds  having  the  same  electricities,  which  repelled  each 
other. —  The  Author. ~] 

"  "Whon  there  are  two  strata  of  clouds,  they  unite  before  the 
enow  or  rain  fulls,  as  a  rule,  though  to-day  the  snow  fell  an 
hour  previous  to  the  clouds  settling  on  the  mountains. 

"April  1.  To-day,  G4  degrees  in  the  sun,  at  11  A.  M. 
Afterward;;  cooler — 15  degrees  at  9  P.  M.  *  *  *  *  A 
northeast  win!  to-night,  seldom  from  that  quarter. 


"April3.     *     *     *     *     Sqph  is  the  atmosphere  here,  that 
although  the  thermometer,  in  the  shade,  marked  27  degr> 
wore  neither  hat  nor  coat,  and  yet  was  warm  enough. 

"April  4.  All  the  forenoon,  till  one  P.  M.,  the  summit 
was  in  a  dense  cloud.  Suddenly  it  lifted,  and  then  we  had 
the  most  gorgeous  display  of  cloud-scenes  we  have  yet  wit- 
nessed. Eastward,  masses  of  cumuli  rested  over  the  vallrvs 
and  the  mountains.  Why  not  call  them  mountains  of  clouds  ? 
Certainly.  They  rose  far  above  our  level,  six  thousand  or 
perhaps  eight  thousand  feet  higher  than  this  peak.  They  con- 
formed to  the  heights  over  which  they  lay,  and  eeemed  to 
envelop  other  mountains,  nearly  as  lofty  as  their  upper  limits. 
The  illusion  was  perfect,  and  Mount  Washington  in  compari- 
son, was  a  diminutive  spur,  or  outlying  peak  of  this  great 
mountain  range.  *  *  *  *  The  sun  rises  high,  but  we 
know  nothing  of  Spring.  Truly  it  is  more  like  Winter  than 
some  of  the  time  in  March.  Then  there  was  n,a  snow.  Now, 
everywhere  there  are  snow  and  ice. 

"April  6.  A  clear  sunrise — cold — thermometer  only  3 
degrees,  the  wind  20  miles  per  hour,  and  the  morning  view, 
that  of  December.  Though  clear,  the  sun  gave  little  heat — a 
pale  white  light;  the  sky  a  light  blue,  and  so  clear,  that  it 
seemed  almost  as  though  we  could  see  beyond  its  bounds,  or 
through  it  into  the  regions  of  space. 

"  April  15.  The  rule  holds  good ;  no  two  days  alike  on 
Mount  Washington.  Ten  hours  we  had  splendid  cloud-effects 
in  every  direction;  cumuli  north,  in  every  form  beautiful  and 
fantastic,  and  colors  as  though  some  radiant  angel  had  thrown 
aside  his  robe  of  light. 

"  April  28.  To  show  the  changes  in  temperature  here,  in  a 
few  feet  of  altitude,  I  note  my  trips  down,  to-day,  and  up  as 
well.  Left  the  house  at  4.30  P.  M.;  wind  30  miles  an  hour ; 
at  the  Lizzie  Bourne  monument,  40  miles;  at  the  Gulf  House 
ruins  and  below,  60  miles,  thus  reversing  the  order  of  things 
in  regard  to  wind.  Thermometer  on  the  summit  28°;  frost- 
work forming  some  distance  below  the  monument.  At  the 
Gulf  Tank,  when  the  sun  came  out,  as  it  did  several  times,  the 
ice  on  my  cap  would  thaw  completely;  then,  while  the  cloud 
was  passing,  icicles  two  inches  in  length  would  form  on  the 
visor.  It  was  difficult  to  work  or  even  stand  against  the  wind 
below  the  Gulf  House  ruino.  Returning,  the  wind  was  not  BO 
violent. 


76 

"May  1.  May  Day,  and  still  it  is  winter;  every  aspect  is 
that  of  mid-winter.  The  spring  near  the  Observatory  remains 
frozen  solid,  and  so  we  daily  melt  ice  for  use,  and  yet  down 
the  mountain  a  half  mile  there  is  seldom  a  day  when  the 
streams  are  not  running. 

"  May  4.  Another  tough  snow-storm ;  *  *  *  wind  got 
up  to  48  miles  per  hour  and  temperature  down  to  21°. 

"  May  5.  The  storm — snowing  in  such  a  wintry  way  last 
night — turned  to  rain  toward  morning,  and  has  been  raining 
all  day.  *  *  *  The  wind  was  west  here — not  higher  than 
five  miles  per  hour — yet  in  the  valleys  it  must  have  been  much 
stronger,  judging  by  the  velocity  of  the  clouds;  besides,  we 
could  hear  distinctly  its  almost  roar. 

"  Monday,  May  6.  This  morning  clear,  calm  and  warm. 
The  thermometer,  at  8  o'clock  A.  M.,  indicated  85°  in  the 
sun ;  warmest  morning  this  spring. 

"  May  7.  The  barometer  fell  50-100ths  from  last  night  at  9 
o'clock  to  this  morning  at  7  o'clock.  "Wind  rising  at  3  o'clock 
A.  M.;  readied  its  highest  velocity,  67  miles  per  hour,  at  2 
o'clock  P.  M. — highest  recorded  for  some  time,  quite  strongly 
reminding  us  of  the  winter  months.  Snowing  all  day.  *  *  * 
At  5  o'clock  P.  M.  the  cloud  passed  off  and  we  could  see  that 
not  the  mountains  alone,  but  the  lower  country  as  well  was 
'snow-bound.'  At  9.40  P.  M.  snowing  ac:ain.  Temperature, 
2  o'clock  P.  M.,  21°— highest  for  the  day— and  19°  at  9 
o'clock  P.  M. 

"May  8.  "We  did  have  a  rough  night;  called  tne  wind  80 
miles  per  hour  at  midnight.  Temperature  at  7  A.  M..  15°. 

"  May  9.     Mountain  peaks  while  as  winter,  but  the  valleys 

are    hare.      The  frost  work  has   seldom    been    more    beautiful. 

Measured  some   leathers  to-day,  on  a  Tall   pole,  at  the  Tip-Top 

!'>und  them  ;;r>  inches  in    length,  and  on  a  rock  south 

of  the  house  49  incho  in  length  and  15  iin-hes  broad. 

"  May  llth.  A  wintry  sky  and  winter  scenery  this  morning. 
The  skva  pale  blue  and  the  sunshine  that  of  December.  *  * 

*     *    Temperature  20°  at  7  o'clock  A.  M, 

"May  14th.  The  wind  was  high  as  ftO  miles  per  hour,  if  not 
higher,  durinir  theni<rht.  All  da y,  as  usual,  it  lias  been  cloudy 
and  frost  work  forming.  Temperature  at  7  A.  M.  was  11°, 
and  highest  for  the  dayat  9  P.  M.,  21°;  at  no  time  the  wind 


77 

lower  than  46  miles  per  h<>ur.     Mr.  II.  left  at  !"»  A.  M.  in  the 
face  of  a  48-mile  gale  and  the  temperature  only  14  .     I  am 

anxious  for  his  safety,  and  shall  ho  till  S.  returns. 

"The  winter's  work  is  done.    Storms  of  unparalleled  severity, 

when,  for  days  in  succession,  the  summit  \vas  enveloped  in 
clouds,  and  the  hurricanes  lasted  longer  and  were  more  vio- 
lent than  any  yet  recorded  in  the  I'nitcd  States,  together  with 
very  low  temperatures,  have  heen  a  part  of  our  experiences. 
Just  such  an  experience  has  seldom  hefore  hem  the  lot  of 
human  beings.  *  *  *  And  ours  has  heen  the  good  for- 
tune to  witness  some  of  the  most  magnificent  winter  scenery 
upon  which  mortal  eyes  ever  rested,  scenerj7  of  transcendent 
grandeur  and  views  surpassingly  beautiful. 

"There  were  days  when  the  shifting  views  of  each  hour  fur- 
nished newr  wonders  and  new  beauties,  in  the  play  of  sunlight 
and  changing  cloud-forms,  every  hour  a  picture  in  itself  and 
perfect  in  details.  Sunsets,  too,  when  an  ocean  of  cloud  sur- 
rounded this  island-like  summit,  the  only  one  of  all  the  many 
high  peaks  visible  above  the  cloud  billows,  all  else  of  earth 
hidden  from  sight;  there  were  times  when  this  aerial  sea  was 
burnished  silver,  smooth  and  calm,  and  times  when  its  tossing 
waves  were  tipped  with  crimson  and  golden  fire.  *  *  *  * 
Gone  are  the  long  days  and  longer  nights,  when  the  stoves 
failed  to  comfortably  warm  the  little  room,  though  we  kept 
them  at  a  red  heat,  and  when  the  thermometer  indicated  65° 
near  the  stove  and  4°  at  the  floor  ten  feet  distant." 

"We  have  presented  these  extracts  from  the  published  obseiv- 
ations  of  the  gentlemen  who  passed  the  winter  of  the  years 
1870-1871  on  Mount  Washington,  to  show  the  sudden  and 
great  variations  of  temperature  that  occurred  on  the  mountain 
by  day  as  well  as  by  night,  and  that  these  variations  could 
not  have  resulted  from  solar  radiations  of  heat,  as  sometimes 
when  the  atmosphere  was  the  clearest  and  freest  from  vapour, 
and  when  the  sun  was  shining  with  the  greatest  brilliancy, 
the  temperature  on  the  mountain  was  lower  than  when  these 
conditions  of  the  sun  and  atmosphere  did  not  exist,  and 
further,  when  the  sun  had  passed  the  vernal  equinox,  and 
was  approaching  the  summer  solstice,  the  temperature  on  the 
mountain,  and  the  condition  of  its  atmosphere,  continued  still 
to  be  wintry,  unaffected  by  the  change  in  the  position  of  the 
sun,  relatively  to  the  angles  of  incidence  of  its  rays. 

"When  we   consider   the   altitude   of  Mount   "Washington, 


78 

which  is  only  6,293  feet  above  the  sea  level,  or  not  much 
more  than  one  mile,  we  find  that  its  projection  above  the 
periphery  of  the  earth  would  be  about  1-8000  part  of  the 
earth's  diameter,  a  protuberance  so  slight  as  to  be  wholly 
inappreciable  at  the  sun's  distance  of  92,000,000  of  miles  from 
it.  What  proportion  of  solar  radiation  of  heat  (if  there  is 
such  a  thing,)  could  fall  upon  so  microscopical  a  spot  as 
Mount  Washington,  cannot  therefore  readily  be  imagined. 
.But  when  we  contemplate  the  electrical  forces  of  our  planet 
developed  by  sunlight,  the  radiation  of  interior  terrestrial 
heat  into  the  atmosphere — the  movements  of  oppositely  elec- 
trified currents  of  air,  and  the  commingling  of  tumultuous 
musses  of  cumuli  clouds,  all  evolving  heat  and  changing  with 
great  suddenness  the  temperature  of  various  localities,  we 
begin  to  comprehend  the  plan  of  the  Creator  in  furnishing 
each  planet  with  its  own  sources  of  heat,  instead  of  attempting 
to  supply  them  with  heat  through  almost  interminable  spaces, 
from  so  distant  an  orb  as  the  sun.  To  an  observer  outside  of 
our  atmosphere,  looking  down  upon  our  planet,  he  would  see 
sometimes  masses  of  dense  clouds,  which,  intercepting  the 
sunlight  would  cast  dark  shadows  of  various  forms  and  sizes 
proportional  to  the  clouds  which  would  form  them  on  the 
surface  of  the  earth.  The  darkness  of  the  shadow  would  be 
in  proportion  to  the  depth  and  density  of  the  clouds  floating 
between  the  sunlight  and  the  earth.  These  shadows  would 
flit  across  our  earth  as  rapidly  as  the  clouds  which  had  pro- 
duced them,  in  great  storms  or  hurricanes  of  perhaps  100 
or  more  miles  per  hour.  Now  may  not  the  sun  spots  which 
have  so  much  exercised  our  astronomers  be  produced  in  a 
Rinilar  way?  Clouds  or  vapours  of  various  luminosity  being 
interposed  between  the  most  luminous  part  of  the  sun's 
envelope;  and  the  gray  atmosphere  of  the  sun,  would 
upon  the  latter  shadows  so  dark  and  so  flitting  as  to  resemble 
:  hadows  of  clouds  on  our  own  planet,  and  the  dispersion 
of  the  clouds  so  making  the  shadows  would  account  for  the 
rapid  disappearance  of  the  sun  spots.  The  forms  of  the  sun 
spots  would  vary  with  the  sinuosities  and  unevenness  of  the 
surface  of  the  gray  envelope  of  the  sun  upon  which  these 
shadows  fell,  and  the  continual  interference  of  intense  Jight 
derived  from  other  luminaries  of  the  stellar  world,  with  the 
fainter  light  received  from  our  planetary  system,  would  greatly 
increase  the  darkness  of  the  shadows  so  produced. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  case  of  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun 
by  the   moon.     In  the   reports   of  observers,  the   following 


79 

appearances  have  been  described  :  Solar  prominences  during 
eclipses,  red  protuberances,  red  clouds,  red  flames,  &c. 

One  observer  says :  "  They  form  around  the  solar  globe  a 
denticulated  and  continuous  series  of  projections  of  very 
curious  appearance."  Another  observer  says:  "The  promi- 
nences were  seen  very  distinctly,  their  colour  was  that  of  red 
coral,  slightly  tinted  with  violet.  They  all  appeared  to  be 
adherent  by  their  bases,  and  none  of  them  floated  detached  at 
a  certain  distance  from  the  moon  as  was  observed  in  the  years 
1851  and  1861. 

"  The  following  facts  may  be  considered  tolerably  certain : 

"  1.  The  prominences  (or  protuberances)  belong  decidedly  to 
the  sun. 

"  2.  The  prominences  are  of  a  gaseous  nature,  that  is,  they 
are  composed  of  an  incandescent  gas,  principally  hydrogen  gas, 
but  they  contain  doubtless  other  substances,  perhaps  sub- 
stances that  are  unknown  on  the  surface  of  our  earth,  at  least 
such  would  appear  to  be  proved  by  the  existence  of  a  brilliant 
line  in  the  spectrum,  near  to  the  yellow  line  of  sodium,  but 
not  coinciding  with  the  latter,  and,  moreover,  most  curious  to 
relate,  it  does  not  coincide  with  any  dark  ray  of  the  solar 
spectrum. 

"3.  The  matter  which  forms  the  prominences  is  of  very 
great  extent,  wrhether  it  spreads  over  the  entire  photosphere 
or  not ;  it  forms  a  continuous  layer,  the  thickness  of  which  is 
estimated  by  Mr.  Loeyer,  at  some  5,000  miles  on  an  average, 
and  the  prominences  appear  to  be  only  portions  of  this  layer 
projected  to  a  certain  distance  from  it,  sometimes  detached 
from  it  and  floating  above  it.  One  of  the  great  prominences 
represented  upwards  of  100,000  miles  in  vertical  height  above 
the  photosphere. 

"4.  These  stupendous  accumulations  of  incandescent  gas 
undergo,  in  very  short  intervals  of  time,  very  great  changes 
in  their  form  and  size,  which  indicate  that  the  layers  of 
gaseous  matter  of  which  they  form  part  are  in  a  state  of  con- 
stant agitation,  the  cause  of  which  is  unknown,  perhaps  it  is 
the  same  that  gives  rise  to  the  spots  and  faculae. 

"  It  is  extremely  probable  that  the  the  entire  globe  of  the 
sun  has  a  very  high  temperature  throughout  its  mass — a  tem- 
perature whicb  surpasses  the  melting  (or  boiling)  points  ot 


80 

most  of  the  elementary  substances  of  which  spectral  analysis 
has  revealed  the  existence  in  its  atmosphere.  At  the  sumo 
time,  it  is  evident  that  the  various  concentric  layers  of  which 
the  solar  globe  may  be  supposed  to  be  formed,  exert  one  upon 
the  other  considerable  pressure,  since  we  find  that  at  the  sur- 
face itself,  the  intensity  of  gravitation  is  twenty-eight  times  as 
fivut  as  it  is  upon  the  earth's  surface.  This  pressure  may 
iuder  fusion  to  a  certain  extent,  but  not  incandescence.  But 
we  believe  that  the  hypothesis  of  a  liquid  incandescence  or 
even  a  gaseous  nucleus  is  more  probable." 

All  such  hypotheses  are  put  at  rest  by  the  recognition  of  the 
sun  as  a  great  magnet,  since  magnetism  is  destroyed  by  heat. 

"  The  prominences  on  the  right,  (western  edge)  appear  like 
a  mass  of  snow-capped  mountains,  the  bases  of  which  rest  on 
the  limb  of  the  moon,  and  are  lighted  up  by  the  rays  of  a 
setting  sun."  (From  M.  Jausen's  observations  on  the  eclipse 
of  the  sun  from  Aden  to  Malacca,  August  18,  1868.) 

"In  1858,  M.  Liais  found  that  the  light  of  the  sun's  corona, 
is  really  polarized,  and  at  once  concluded  that  the  sun  has  an 
atmosphere  extending  far  beyond  the  Dhotosphere. 

"During  the  short  phase  of  total  darkness,  a  luminous 
corona  makes  its  appearance,  being  generally  of  a  silver 
whiteness,  but  is  sometimes  coloured  and  surrounds  com- 
pletely the  dark  lirnb.  Its  apparent  breadth  is  from  one-fifth 
to  one-twelfth  of  the  diameter  of  the  moon,  and  from  it,  light 
decreases  gradually." 

"We  have  here  in  the  aspect  of  the  clouds  in  sunshine,  from 
the  summit  of  Mount  Washington  as  they  gather  from  the  sea 
or  from  the  land,  advancing,  stationary,  or  retiring,  the  most 
vivid  descriptions  of  the  varying  brilliant  tints  arid  gorgeous 
groupings  of  colours,  as  the  changing  angles  of  incidence  and 
reflection  met  their  sight,  that  it  is  possible  to  conceive.  A\V, 
who  are  familiar  with  the  magnificent  autumnal  sunsets  of 
many  parts  of  our  country,  may  begin  to  imagine  the 
exquisite  beauty  of  the  scenes  which  these  gentlemen  have 
witnessed.  But  the  particular  object  we  have  in  view  in 
calling  your  attention  to  it,  is  to  trace  the  analogy  of  these 
displays  of  colour,  light  and  shade,  with  those  described  by 
•i  gating  the  physical  condition  of  the  sun. 

We  have  the  same  tints,  brilliant  colours,  neutral  colours, 
shades  and  shadows,  in  our  planet  as  are  described  to  be  seen 
in  the  sun — similar  disturbances  in  the  vapour  of  both  orbs. 


81 

Is  it  too  much  to  imagine,  tlioreforc,  that  if  an  observe/  could 
be  placed  within  telescopic  range  beyond  our  atmosphere, 
he  might  see  in  our  atmosphere  an  exact  imitation,  upon  a 
reduced  scale  however,  of  whatever  has  been  exhibited  by  the 
sun,  as  the  disc  of  our  planet  would  then  display  a  rcfle 
of  the  illumination  of  the  whole  stellar  world?  And  what 
more  does  the  sun  do  ?  He  receives  the  light  of  the  whole 
stellar  and  planetary  world,  and  reflects  it  again  through 
space,  thus  presenting  to  one  orb,  or  set  of  orbs,  the  light  he 
has  received  from  others,  until  throughout  the  great  expanse, 
light  is  diffused  everywhere  to  shine  in  the  firmament  of  heaven, 
and  give  light  upon  the  earth. 

We  have  had  exhibited  in  this  city,  (Philadelphia,)  a  few 
weeks  since,  by  a  distinguished  artist,  an  oil  painting  of 
"  Pike's  Peak,"  one  of  the  grandest  mountains  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  range.  Its  height  is  14,216  feet  above  the  sea  level, 
and  on  its  very  summit  is  a  signal  station  and  observatory  of 
the  United  States,  erected  in  the  year  1873.  Its  summit  is 
covered  with  snow  to  a  descent  of  perhaps  a  thousand  fec-t. 
The  painting,  which  represents  a  sunset  scene,  portrays  the 
snow-covered  summit,  illuminated  all  over  by  a  brilliant  red 
tint,  resembling  red  coral,  and  creating  at  first  sight  the  im- 
pression of  a  mountain  on  fire.  The  resemblance  to  the  red 
protuberances  around  the  sun,  during  eclipses,  as  depicted  in 
photographs  taken  by  the  observers,  is  most  striking.  This 
brilliant  red  coral  colour  pervades  the  whole  surface  of  the 
summit  of  the  mountain  that  is  covered  with  snow,  and  which 
is  seen  through  the  red  colour.  Here  we  have  an  exact  resem- 
blance of  one  of  the  appearances  of  the  sun,  as  displayed 
during  an  eclipse,  and  yet  there  is  no  incandescent  gas 
covering  "Pike's  Peak"  to  produce  this  colour.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  atmosphere  around  and  above  the  mountain  is 
wintry,  with  a  temperature  below  freezing  point  "  Ex  pede 
Herculem!"  May  we  not  infer  from  this  illustration  that  there 
is  no  incandescent  gas  about  the  sun,  and  that  the  varied  tints 
and  colours,  however  brilliant,  and  however  resembling  what 
we  suppose  to  be  incandescent  metallic  vapours,  are  really  only 
manifestations  of  light  in  its  protean  displays,  as  fitful  and 
evanescent  as  we  see  it  in  our  autumnal  sunsets. 

ISTow  let  us  for  a  moment  imagine  that  by  the  interposition 
of  the  moon  between  the  sun  and  the  earth,  each  suffers  an 
eclipse  from  the  other.  Let  us  suppose  that  the  snow-clad 
mountains  of  our  planet  are  bathed  in  sunlight,  and  that  the 


82 

brilliant  colours  derived  from  that  source,  changing  with  the 
angles  of  incidence  and  reflection,  with  which  they  encompass 
these  snow-clad  peaks,  become  displayed  beyond  the  periphery 
of  the  moon,  which  has  concealed  a  large  part  of  the  body  of 
the  earth.  J^ow,  if  an  observer  could  be  placed  between  the 
moon  and  the  sun,  at  the  period  of  such  an  eclipse  of  the  earth, 
would  he  not  witness  displays  of  light  and  colour,  greatly  re- 
sembling, if  not  identical,  with  those  which  would  be  seen  by 
another  observer  placed  between  the  moon  and  the  earth,  as 
he  regarded  the  appearances  about  the  sun  ?  AYhat  then 
would  become  of  the  terrific  heat  of  the  sun  and  its  incandes- 
cent gases  ? 

"  In  the  hypothesis  of  undulations,  instead  of  supposing  the 
transport  of  a  material  agent  to  great  distances,  it  is  held  that 
the  vibrations  of  luminous  bodies  are  communicated  to  the 
atoms  of  an  all-pervading  ethereal  fluid.  These  vibrations, 
propagated  through  this  fluid,  reach  the  organ  of  vision,  which 
in  time  transmits  them  to  the  optic  nerve.  In  this  bpothe- 
I  ic  nature  and  transmission  of  light  would  be  analagous 
to  the  nature  and  transmission  of  sound,  light  being  produced 
by  atomic,  and  sound  by  molecular  vibrations."  This  idea 
confines  the  action  of  light  to  animal  vision. 

In  these  cases  there  is  no  analogy,  for  sound  has  a  very 
limited  range  of  action,  with  comparatively  small  velocity,  and 
is  only  of  value  to  living  beings.  While  light  has  scarcely  a 
limit  as  to  distance  in  penetration,  and  a  velocity  inconceivably 
great,  and  is  indispensable  to  planetary  existence. 

Two  persons  hold  a  table-cloth,  twenty-five  feet  long,  by  its 

two  ends,  loosely  in  their  hands — the  actual  distance 

these  persons  in  a  straight  line  is  twenty  feet — one  of  these 

persons  raises  his  arms,  and,  by  a  strong  impulse,  shakes  the 

cloth,  while  the  other  end  is  held  by  the  other  person  firmly, 

a  wave  of  the  cloth  is  formed,  and    runs   through   its  entire 

length,  at  the  extremity  of  which  it  is  lost.     This  is  called 

.  lation,  or  wave-making.     The  cloth  rises  and  tails  in  the 

.  which  runs  through  twenty-five  feet,  its  whole  length. 

traveled  by  the  wave  is  twenty-live  feet,  being 

five   feet   more   than   the   distance  between   the    two  persons 

holding  the  table-cloth.     Should  the  table-cloth  be  stretched 

to  its  full  length,  no  wave  could  be  produced. 

Xo\v,  let  us  apply  this  example  to  the  sun  and  the  earth. 
The  luminous  ether,  as  the  intervening  space  between  these 


83 

two  orbs  is  called,  is  ninety-two  millions  of  miles  in  length  ; 
and,  to  admit  of  its  undulation,  must  be  very  loose  in  its  con- 
sistency. We  may  safely  infer  that  such  undulations  as  would 
be  required  for  the  transmission  of  light  from  the  sun  to  the 
earth,  would  increase  the  actual  distance  traveled  by  the  light 
in  its  undulations  fully  ten  millions  of  miles,  making  the 
traveled  space  between  the  sun  and  earth  to  be  one  hundred 
and  two  millions  of  miles  instead  of  ninety-two  millions  of 
miles,  the  measured  distance.  Now,  the  greatest  velocity 
known  is  that  of  light*  which  is  186,000  miles  per  second. 
"We  do  no  injustice  to  Divine  Wisdom  when  we  suppose  that 
this  extreme  velocity  has  been  imparted  to  light,  in  order  that 
it  should  pass  through  space  without  interruption,  and  that  it 
should  reach  its  destination  in  the  shortest  possible  space  of 
time — in  other  words,  that  it  should  go  directly  to  its  object  in 
right  lines,  without  any  deviation,  up  or  down,  or  laterally, 
which  would  only  retard  its  progress.  Hence  we  reject  entirely 
the  undulatory  theory  of  light,  as  enunciated  at  the  present 
time.  If  the  laws  of  light  are  not  comprehended  by  scientists, 
it  furnishes  no  excuse  for  resort  to  absurdities  in  the  effort  to 
explain  them.  While  light,  in  traversing  inter-stellar  and 
inter-planetary  spaces,  is  thought  to  be  confined  to  rectilinear 
directions,  there  is  nothing  incompatible  with  this  idea  when 
it  is  brought  within  the  influences  of  our  atmosphere,  by  which 
its  refrangibility,  its  reflection,  its  polarization,  and  its  power 
to  develop  electricity,  magnetism,  and  heat  are  manifested, 
and  its  more  speedy  diffusion  through  our  atmosphere,  by 
these  disturbing  influences,  may  furnish  a  reason  for  its  attri- 
butes here,  which  would  have  no  application  in  its  passage 
through  inter-stellar  or  inter-planetary  spaces. 

"Light  diminishes  in  force  or  intensity  in  proportion  as  it 
recedes  from  its  source.  This  diminution  is  in  direct  ratio  to 
the  square  of  the  distance.  Thus,  the  quantities  of  light  at  dis- 
tances 2,  3,  4,  etc.,  will  be  4,  9,  16,  etc.,  times  less  than  at  dis- 
tance 1.  Light  requires  eight  minutes  thirteen  seconds  to 
arrive  from  the  sun  to  the  earth.  It  travels  11J  miles  in  L4>  of 
a  second,  or  186,000  miles  per  second.  It  travels  always  ia  a 
straight  line. 

"  Light  added  to  light,  by  interference,  produces  darkness. 
The  movement  of  such  rays  neutralize  each  other,  and  the 
light  ceases  to  cast  any  lustre. 

"  Of  the  thousand  rays  of  variegated  shade  and  refrangibility 
*  Excepting  that  of  electricity,  which  is  288.000  miles  per  second. 


84 

which  compose  colourless  (or  white)  light,  those  only  neutralize 
each  other  which  possess  co-ordinate  colour  and  refrangibility. 
Thus  a  red  ray  cannot  obliterate  a  green  ray.  Two  white 
lights  cross  each  other  at  a  given  point,  and  one  time  the  red 
alone  will  disappear,  and  the  point  of  intersection  will 
hecome  green  —  green  being  white  minus  red." 

Let  us  see  what  can  be  made  of  the  fragmentary  knowledge 
of  liht  that  we  have  so  far  attained.     The  white  liht  of  the 


is  composed  of  seven  primary  rays,  all  differing  in  colour 
from  each  other.  The  first  analysis  of  this  white  sunlight  was 
displayed  to  mankind  in  the  rainbow,  whose  magnificent 
beauty  was  admired  with  stupid  wonder,  without  the  faintest 
conception  on  the  part  of  the  beholder  of  what  it  meant. 
After  a  lapse  of  ages  of  time,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  with  a  glass 
prism,  separated  the  rays  of  a  sunbeam,  and  developed  the 
primary  colours  which,  in  their  association,  had  formed  the 
white  light  of  the  sun.  He  reunited  these  primary  rays,  and 
thus,  by  synthesis  as  well  as  analysis,  he  proved  the  composite 
character  of  sunlight. 

Now,  astronomers  have  shown  that  the  planets  and  asteroids 
of  our  planetary  system  each  emit  a  colour  peculiar  to  itself: 
Mercury,  a  pale  rosy  light;  Mars,  a  reddish  tint;  Venus,  a  silvery- 
white  colour,  with  occasional  streaks  of  pale  blue  light;  Jupiter 
gives  out  a  pale  yellow  light;  Saturn,  a  pale  bluish  tint,  while 
its  rings  are  gorgeous  with  a  white,  silvery  colour;  the  Moon 
gives  out  a  yellowish  hue  ;  Pallas  shines  with  a  yellowish  light  ; 
Juno  is  a  reddish  star  ;  Vesta  has  a  ruddy  tinge,  sometimes  of 
a  pale  yellowish  hue  ;  the  Earth  emits  a  red  colour. 
"  Another  remarkable  feature  of  these  star  systems,  and  per- 
haps the  most  brilliant  and  intrinsically  beautiful  phenomenon 
of  astronomy,  is  the  resplendent  and  gemlike  variety  of  colours 
by  which  the  binary,  ternary  and  other  multiple  systems  are 
cnaracterized.  Here  all  the  colours  and  intermediate  tints  of 
the  spectrum  are  to  be  met  with,  manifested  with  the  richest 
intensity  and  the  most  vivid  and  distinctive  strength  and 
fulness  ef  hue.  Thus  in  7-,  Andromeda,  we  have  a  ternary 
combination,  the  brighter  star  being  a  rich  and  full  orange, 
and  the  two  fainter  stars  green.  In  a,  Cassiopeia?,  we  havr  a, 
bright  blue  and  a  sea  given  star,  ,9,  Cyirni,  is  ;i  pair  of  stars, 
y.'llow  and  sapphire.  «,  Ceti,  is  a  very  fine  orange  star  wiih  a 
blue  companion.  *  *  * 

"In  a  celebrated  d  uster  of  stars,  near  x  of  the  Southern  Cross, 
there  are  about  one  hundred  small  stars  of  different  colours, 
from  the  various  reds  to  all  the  tints  of  green,  blue  and  bluish- 


85 

so  crowded  together,  that  they  appear  in  the  1  . 
telescopes  like  a  piece  of  magnificent  celcsrial  jewelry,  studi-d 
and  Hashing  in  the  most  superb  splendour  with  the  richest  and 
most  brilliant  gem-light."  *  These  colours  are  primary. 
"What  becomes  of  all  these  primary  rays  of  light  unless  th.-v 
are  used  to  compose  the  white  light  of  our  sun,  and  of  all  the 
fixed  stars  or  suns  that  illuminate  the  firmament?  Whatever 
sunlight,  therefore,  has  fallen  upon  these  planets  has  been  de- 
composed; six  out  of  the  seven  primary  rays  thereof  have  been 
absorbed  for  the  use  of  the  planet,  and  the  remaining  primary 
has  been  emitted  by  the  planet,  and  sent  to  the  sun  to 
associate  in  his  photosphere  with  the  different  primary  rays 
sent  to  him  from  other  planets,  to  form  anew  the  white  sun- 
light, which  by  him  is  to  be  diffused  throughout  the  planetarv 
and  stellar  world. 

Now  we  must  not  suppose  that  the  orbs  composing  our 
diminutive  solar  system  have  furnished,  or  can  furnish,  to  the 
sun  a  sufficient  quantity  of  their  respective  primary  rays  of 
light  to  supply  that  luminary  with  the  amount  of  elementary 
light  which  it  is  his  function  to  combine  and  to  furnish  to  the 
universe.  We  must  remember  that,  from  the  great  depths  of 
the  infinite  expanse,  elementary  light  comes  up  from  every 
star,  nebula,  or  meteor,  seeking  its  complementary  element  in 
the  photosphere  of  the  sun,  there  to  be  associated  as  white 
light,  and  thence  to  be  reflected  from  the  gray  covering  of  the 
sun,  as  a  mirror,  to  all  the  orbs  of  creation.  This  circulation 
of  light,  this  absorption  by  the  stars  and  planets  of  such  of  the 
primary  rays  of  light  as  they  need  for  their  own  support,  and 
the  emission,  severally,  of  their  own  peculiar  rays,  to  be  reas- 
sembled again  in  the  various  photospheres  of  the  infinite 
number  of  suns  that  stud  the  firmament,  and  to  be  again  dif- 
fused, according  to  the  plan  of  creation,  in  endless  succession, 
present  an  image  of  the  wisdom,  the  beneficence  and  power  of 
the  Creator,  that  fills  the  mind  with  awe,  and  teaches  man  the 
utter  insignificance  of  his  being. 

Our  sun  is  simply  a  huge  reflector  of  light.  The  gray 
covering  of  his  nucleus  or  body  is  represented  in  our  mirrors 
by  the  metallic  covering  which  we  place  on  the  backs  of  our 
glasses.  These  transparent  glasses  are  typified  by  the  trans- 
lucent photosphere  of  the  sun,  and  the  associated  primary 
rays  of  light  from  every  luminous  object  in  the  universe, 
mingling  together,  and  reflected  from  this  gray  covering  of 
the  sun,  furnish  the  white  sunlight  that  illuminates  the  world. 

*J.  A.  S.  Rollwyn's  Astronomy. 


86 

Heat  destroys  gravitation.  Even  our  astronomers,  in  assert- 
ing that  the  luminous  matter  in  the  photosphere  of  the  sun  is 
shown  by  the  spectroscope  to  be  composed  largely  of  incan- 
descent  metallic  the  bases  of  which  are  among  the 

heaviest  matter  in  the  crust  of  our  earth,  commit  the  incon- 
sistency of  supposing  that  these  heavy  incandescent  metallic 
vapours  or  gases  are  supported  by  a  photosphere  of  much 
greater  specific  gravity,  as  well  ;  :y,  than  these  heavy 

3  themselves;  otherwise  these  metallic  gases  could  not 
fl»at  in  the  photosphere.  Some  of  these  astronomers  go  so  for 
as  to  suppose  that  the  body  or  nucleus  of  the  sun  itself  is 
gase»us,  and  that  the  density  of  the  sun  is  much  less  than 
the  densities  of  the  incandescent  metallic  vapours  which  they 
suppose  to  float  in  its  photosphere.  Now,  if  these  incande- 
metallic  re  heavier  than  the  material  composing  the 

sun  itself,  it  is  clear  that  the  gravitation,  according  to  Xewtou, 
of  these  heavy  metallic  incandescent  vapours  is  not  towards  the 
centre  of  the  sun ;  and  if  not  to  him,  where  do  they  gravitate? 
We  know  what  the  specific  gravities  or  densities  of  many  of 
the  metals  on  the  surface  of' the  earth  are,  wrhose  incandescent 
vapours,  as  revealed  by  the  spectoscope,  are  supposed  to  exist 
in  the  photosphere  of  the  sun,  and  astronomers  have  calculated 
that  the  attraction  of  gravitation  to  the  sun  in  its  photosphere 
would  be  twenty-eight  times  as  great  as  the  gravitation  in  the 
earth's  atmosphere  to  the  earth  of  bodies  of  similar  weight. 

If,  therefore,  we  suppose  that  these  metallic  incandescent 
vapours  in  the  sun's  photosphere  to  lie  twenty-eight  times 
ier  than  they  would  be  in  the  earth's  atmosphere;  and  if 
they  never  fall  to  the  body  of  the  sun.  it  must  follow  that 
what  is  called  gravitation  in  the  photosphere  df  the  sun  can- 
not exist,  and  the  whole  theory  of  Xewton,  of  centripetal  and 
centrifugal  f.>r«-es,  l.as  no  substantial  existence.  We  know 
that  in  our  own  planet  heat  destroys  gravitation,  as  the  vol- 
canic action  in  the  interior  of  the  earth,  upheaving  inlands, 
mountain  ranges,  and  even  continents,  abundantly  Droves 

The  mean  density  of  the  earth  is  about  five  times  greater 
than   that  of  water — actually  5.44  times.      Water,  therefore, 
on   the   surface   of  tin.;  earth — penetrates   its  crust  till  it 
encounters  the   heat    radiated   from   the  interior  of  the  earth, 
where  its  further  descent  helmv  the  surfa---  1,  then  it 

is  converted  into  steam  by  the  heat  it  has  absorbed,  and  it  is 
driven  upwards  into  the  atmosphere,  heaving  up  the  most 
solid  and  heavy  materials  of  the  crust  of  the  earth,  that  lie 


87 

above  the  direction  it  may  take.  This  expansion  of  water 
into  steam  by  heat  in  the  crust  of  the  earth,  produced  by  the 
repellent  affinity  of  the  homogeneous  electricity  associated 
with  it,  is  one  of  the  forces  of  volcanic  action,  which  arc  con- 
tinually changing  the  forms  of  the  outer  surface  of  the  earth's 
crust.  The  density  or  specific  gravity  of  the  sun  is  O.L;~>  !:'.<> 
(or  nearly  one-fourth  of  that  of  the  earth).  In  other  words, 
taken  in  equal  volumes,  the  weight  of  the  matter  Which,  com- 
poses the  sun  is  scarcely  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  weight 
which  composes  our  globe.  Compared  to  water,  the  density 
of  the  sun  is  1.367;  that  of  water  being  1. 

Now,  if  what  our  astronomers  tell  us  of  the  inconceivably 
high  temperature  of  the  sun  be  true,  there  can  be  no  gravita- 
tion towards  its  centre  from  its  photosphere,  its  chromosphere, 
or  any  of  its  possible  envelopes,  the  heat  expanding,  rarefying 
and  driving  off  all  such  material  substances.  Heat  disinteg- 
rates solids,  separates  their  molecules,  destroys  their  densities, 
and  consequently  is  opposed  to  gravitation,  which  is  the 
attraction  of  densities.  Alas  !  for  poor  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and 
his  grand  theory  of  centripetal  and  centrifugal  forces!  A  ray 
of  light  passing  through  a  narrow  chiuli,  and  through  a  glass 
prism,  has  done  the  business.  The  incandescent  metallic 
gases  and  the  transcendent  intense  heat  of  the  sun  which  has 
vapourized  these  metals  (the  supposed  discovery  by  the  narrow 
chink  and  the  prism),  have  demolished  Newton  and  his  erratic 
fancies.  Sic  transit  gloria  mundi! 

According  to  Professor  Tyndall,  "  gravitation  consists  of  an 
attraction  of  every  particle  of  matter  for  every  other  particle — 
planets  and  moons  are  supposed  to  be  held  in  their  orbits  by 
this  attraction." 

"  The  earth  is  supposed  to  attract  to  its  centre  all  the  bodies 
upon  its  surface  by  what  Newton  termed  centripetal  force,  and 
when  one  of  them  falls,  it  is  always  towards  the  earth's  centre. 
This  force  is  said  to  be  resident  in  all  the  bodies  of  nature. 
It  exerts  its  influence  upon  the  largest  masses  as  well  as  upon 
the  most  minute  particles  of  matter.  This  it  is  which  gives 
harmony  to  the  universe,  and  explains  the  formation  of  bodies 
of  all  kinds." 

Newton  held  that  "  Bodies  exercise  attraction  in  direct  ratio 
to  their  mass,  and  that  this  law  was  of  universal  application." 

Let  us  examine  this. 


88 

The  circulation  of  the  blood  in  animals  is  not  affected  by 
gravitation,  nor  are  any  of  the  secretions  of  the  animal  body. 
The  development  in  growth  of  animals  is  upwards,  opposed  to 
gravitation,  and  totally  unaffected  by  gravitation.  The  move- 
ments of  animals  in  the  performance  of  their  varied  functions 
have  no  reference  to  gravitation.  So  also  in  the  vegetable 
world;  the  sap  of  plants  rises  from  the  roots,  is  distributed 
through  the  branches,  and  enlarges  their  size  irrespective  of 
gravitation  ;  the  trunk  of  the  tree  ascends  into  the  atmosphere 
and  extends  its  huge  limbs  laterally,  as  if  gravitation  had  no 
existence.  The  smoke  from  combustion,  the  exhalations  from 
the  earth,  and  the  evaporation  of  water,  all  of  them  material 
substances,  are  in  opposition  to  gravitation. 

Light,  electricity,  magnetism  and  heat,  the  vital  forces  of 
the  universe,  all  treat  gravitation  with  great  contempt.  The 
atmosphere  surrounds  mid  envelopes  the  earth.  It  has  what 
is  called  gravity  or  weight,  but  it  is  not  subject  to  what  is 
called  the  law  of  gravitation,  since  when  its  lower  strata. 
become  warmed,  they  ascend  into  the  upper  part  of  the  atmos- 
phere, and  do  not  descend  or  fall  to  the  earth,  as  having  weight 
they  should  do;  thus  a  difference  in  the  relative  weights  of  the 
same  substance,  in  one  condition  or  another,  removes  that 
substance  from  the  influence  of  gravitation.  The  vapours  or 
clouds  in  the  atmosphere,  which  aiv  heavier  than  air,  float  in 
many  directions,  and  do  not  fall  to  the  earth.  A  piece  of  iron 
will  float  upon  a  fused  mass  of  iron,  instead  of  passing  through 
it  to  the  bottom.  The  inertia  of  matter  is  opposed  to  gravita- 
tion. Form,  which  is  a  force,  and  is  the  resultant  of  the  force* 
that  have  produced  it,  is  antagonistic,  to  gravitation,  which  we 
illustrate  with  this  example:  suppose  we  have  a  cube  of  soft 
iron,  weighing  live  pounds;  let  it  be  held  by  the  hand  over  a, 
pool  of  water;  release  it,  from  the  hand,  the  iron  falls  directly 
to  the  bottom  of  the  pool;  our  philosophers  would  say  it  fell 
ruvitation. 

Xow,  take  that  cube  of  iron,  roll  it  out  into  a  sheet  of  iron 

•  •nth  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  and  again  place  it 
the   water  horizontally;    release  your  hold   upon   it;  it  .-inks 
iiniii'  io   the  bottom   of  the  pool.      Philosophy  says,  by 

gravitation.      \^-<-»\  .-r  it,  and   holding  its  edge  vertically  over 
the  water,  again  withdraw  your  hand;  it  descends  at  on 

bottom.      Still    by  gravitation.      Xow,  again   take    it    from 
the  pool,  bejid   r  up  some  six  inches  around  it,  in  the 

form  of  a  dish  ;    then   place  its  bottom   on   the  surface  of  the 


80 

water,  release  your  liohl,  and  lo  !  it  does  not  sink  to  the  bottom 
of  the  pool,  but  it  floats  upon  the  surface  of  it  !  It  is  no  lo 
drawn  to  the  bottom  of  the  pool  by  gravitation,  although  what 
we  call  its  weight  is  unchanged.  It  still  weighs  five  pounds. 
"Why  does  it  not  sink  as  before?  It  is  arrested  by  its  form, 
which  is  antagonistic  to  what  is  called  gravitation.  Gravita- 
tion, therefore,  is  not  universal.  It  does  not  always  attract 
matter  to  matter,  in  proportion  to  its  mass.  "What  then  is 
the  repellent  force  which  prevents  this  iron  dish  from  sinking? 
It  is  magnetism.  The  water  is  magnetic,  a  condition  produced 
by  the  electricity,  whose  opposite  polarities  in  the  oxygen  and 
hydrogen  meeting  in  conjunction,  converted  those  gases,  by 
the  combustion  of  the  hydrogen  gas  in  the  oxygen  gas,  into  the 
liquid  state  of  water,  and  rendering  the  water  at  the  same 
time  magnetic.  The  iron  dish,  in  contact  with  the  water  by 
its  horizontal  bottom,  and  having  vertical  sides,  became  mag- 
netic by  induction  from  the  water — the  water  and  the  iron 
presenting  the  same  magnetic  poles  to  each  other,  mutually 
repelled  each  other,  and  the  flotation  of  the  iron  dish  was  the 
result. 

Flotation,  heretofore  attributed  to  the  lightness  of  the 
floating  body  compared  with  the  weight  of  the  liquid  in 
which  it  floated,  is  due  to  magnetic  repulsion,  and  not  to 
gravitation.  Now  let  us  look  at  the  condition  of  this  water 
when  it  has  changed  its  character  by  crystalizing  into  flakes 
of  snow,  of  whatever  diversity  of  form,  or  of  hail,  or  of  sur- 
face or  dense  ice.  These  forms  of  water  at  temperatures  below 
32°  of  Fahrenheit,  are  all  magnets,  and  their  minutest  atoms 
are  all  magnets,  also;  each  endowed  with  its  two  poles,  one 
at  either  extremity  of  the  atom,  and  each  with  opposite  attri- 
butes. 

The  commerce  of  the  world,  therefore,  is  sustained  on  its 
oceans  by  the  repellent  force  of  magnetism;  while  the  mari- 
ner directs  his  course  over  their  trackless  wastes,  in  darkness 
and  in  storm,  guided  by  that  opposite  quality  of  the  magnet 
which  attracts  it  to  the  poles  of  the  earth. 

Now,  when  water,  owing  its  form,  whether  liquid  or  frozen, 
to  magnetism,  is  exposed  to  heat,  and  converted  into  steam, 
its  magnetic  qualities  are  driven  off  by  the  heat,  and  are  re- 
placed by  electricity,  which  is  the  force  that  rends  the  strongest 
fabrics  of  human  skill  to  pieces,  and  scatters  death  and  deso- 
lation in  every  direction.  The  electricity  of  steam  is  of  one 


90 

kind,  and  is  repellent  of  itself;  and  its  effort  to  escape  from 
itself  and  to  unite  with  the  opposite  electricity  of  the  atmos- 
phere is  so  violent  and  so  powerful  that  it  furnishes  to  man 
one  of  the  greatest  forces  with  which  he  is  acquainted. 

The  forked  flashes  of  lightning,  seen  above  volcanoes  in 
eruption,  are  merely  the  results  of  the  conjunction  of  the 
positive  electricity  of  the  heated  air,  steam  and  lava  thrown 
out  of  the  volcano  by  violent  interior  forces,  with  the  negative 
electricity  of  the  atmosphere  above  and  around  the  volcano. 

Rotary  motion  of  an  object  is  antagonistic  to  magnetism, 
by  the  production  of  friction  with  the  atmosphere  by  the  re- 
volving object.  This  friction  evolves  electricity,  which,  uniting 
with  the  opposite  electricity  of  the  revolving  object,  produces 
heat. that  expands  and  disintegrates  its  molecules,  separating 
them,  and  removing  the  magnetism. 

As  the  heat  of  the  sun  (if  it  has  any)  cannot  pass  down- 
wards through  ninety-two  millions  of  miles  of  ether  with  a 
temperature  of — 14i>°  of  centigrade  thermometer,  so  the  heat 
radiated  from  the  interior  of  the  earth,  or  produced  on  its 
surface,  or,  in  its  lower  strata  of  atmosphere,  cannot  penetrate 
up  wards  through  the  canopy  of  cold  which  surrounds  the  earth 
at  various  altitudes  from  the  snow  line  of  15.000  feet  above  the 
equator,  6000  feet  at  45°  of  north  or  south  latitude,  and  at  the 
level  of  the  earth  at  60°  of  north  latitude. 

Let  us  admire  the  ineffable  wisdom  of  the  Creator  who,  by 
a  barrier  of  ice  in  the  Arctic  and  Antarctic  regions,  confines 
the  internal  heat  between  them  and  the  equator,  and  the 
superficial  heat  of  the  earth  below  the  region  of  perpetual 
snow  in  the  atmosphere,  for  the  uses  intended  by  Him  of  the 
planet  and  its  productions 

lieory  of  centripetal  and  centrifugal  attractions 
and  repulsions  is  fallacious.  There  can  be  no  rotation  on  the 
centi-  here  or  spheroid,  though  there,  may  be  at  the  ex- 

tremities of  any  of  its  diameters  or  axes.  What  is  called  cen- 
trifugal f  Micrely  the  repulsion  from  the  axis  of  rotation 
and  not  from  the  centre.  So  centripetal  foivo  is  merely  axial 
attraction.  Any  force  is  the  resultant  of  the  forces  which 
produce  it.  If  there  was,  therefore,  sueha  force  as  centripetal 
m  a  sphere  or  spheroid,  the  opposing  forces  acting  from  the 
ends  of  the  diameters  would  neutralize  each  other,  and  an  im- 
•  •at  would  result  at  the  centre,  which  heat  would 


91 

destroy  the  very  forces  which  had  produced  it,  and  would 
prevent  their  continuance. 

"When  we  consider  the  repellent  forces  of  the  interior  of  the 
earth,  such  as  heat  and  electricity,  upheaving  by  volcanic 
action  immense  masses  of  islands  and  continents,  changing  in 
many  places  the  configuration  of  the  land  and  the  sea,  we 
cannot  for  a  moment  accept  the  theory  of  centripetal  attraction 
or  gravitation. 

The  mean  density  of  the  earth  is  said  to  be  about  five  times 
greater  than  that  of  water.  If  this  be  so,  why  does  not  this 
great  density  or  mass  of  matter  bring  down  the  clouds  by 
centripetal  attraction  or  gravitation  instantly  to  the  earth  ? 
"Why  does  the  atmosphere,  still  less  dense  than  the  clouds,  re- 
main above  the  earth,  when  according  to  the  laws  of  gravita- 
tion it  should  be  precipitated  upon  it  ?  and  why  should  the 
upper  strata  of  the  atmosphere  be  more  attenuated  and  thin 
than  the  lower  strata,  which  besides  their  own  weight  have  the 
additional  weight  of  the  upper  strata  upon  them  ? 

There  are  no  centripetal  or  centrifugal  forces,  as  Newton 
supposed.  In  the  rapid  rotation  of  a  sphere  or  cylinder  on  its 
axis,  the  outer  surface,  by  its  friction  with  the  atmosphere, 
evolves  electricity,  which,  in  conjunction  with  the  electricity 
of  the  atmosphere,  produces  heat,  which  insinuating  itself 
among  the  molecules  of  the  rotating  body,  expands  them  and, 
if  the  velocity  of  the  rotation  is  sufficient,  this  heat  loosens 
th.eir  mutual  cohesion,  and  electricity  being  at  the  same  time 
imparted  to  these  molecules  associated  with  the  heat,  they  are 
attracted  thereby  to  the  opposite  electricity  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  the  rotating  body  is  separated  into  fragments  with  great 
violence,  as  the  molecules  of  the  mass,  having  the  same 
electricity,  repel  each  other  while  they  are  attracted  to  the 
opposite  electricity  of  the  outer  atmosphere. 

This  is  the  explanation  of  the  bursting  of  millstones,  grind- 
stones and  other  revolving  bodies  at  great  speed,  as  well  as  of 
meteors,  shooting  stars  and  comets,  heretofore  attributed  to 
centrifugal  force.  Now,  what  is  there  to  attract  at  the  centre 
of  anything  or  to  repel  therefrom.  The  centre  is  an  imaginary 
point,  having  neither  length,  breadth  nor  thickness,  absolutely 
without  dimensions,  and  consequently  without  matter — how 
therefore  can  it  be  invested  with  force  of  any  kind  ? 

There  can   be   no  rotation   on   the  centre  of  any   sphere, 


92 

cylinder,  or  cone,  or  other  solid  or  hollow  body,  as  the  forces 
requisite  to  produce  the  motion,  would  be  antagonistic,  and 
would  destroy  it,  as  the  attempt  might  be  made — conceive  for 
a  moment,  that  while  the  earth  is  revolving  on  its  axis  from 
west  to  east,  you  should  apply  an  equal  force  to  make  it 
revolve  also  from  north  to  south,  the  rotation  would  then  be 
from  northwest  to  southeast — now  apply  equal  intermediate 
forces  between  northwest  and  west,  and  northwest  and  north, 
and  so  on  till  you  have  equal  forces  for  every  degree  of  the 
hemisphere,  and  equal  opposite  forces  from  the  other  hemi- 
sphere. This  would  be  equivalent  to  centripetal  force  or 
attraction,  and  as  these  opposing  forces  would  be  equal,  rota- 
tion would  cease,  the  body  would  remain  at  rest,  and 
centripetal  force  or  attraction  would  not  exist,  consequently 
there  is  neither  centripetal  nor  centrifugal  force,  and  we  must 
look  therefore  to  other  forces  to  explain  the  motions  of  the 
planetary  and  stellar  worlds. 

It  is  to  Oersted,  the  celebrated  chemist  and  physicist  of 
Denmark,  that  we  owe  the  discovery  that  cui  rents  of  electricity 
passing  over  a  conjunctive  wire,  from  one  pole  of  the  Voltaic 
pile  to  the  opposite  pole,  produce  magnetism.  The  meeting 
of  these  opposite  electricities,  he  has  termed  an  "electrical  con- 
jl'"-'"  I  should  prefer  to  call  it  an  electrical  embrace,  as  it 
more  resembles  the  ardour  of  lovers,  in  its  attraction,  than  an 
attack  by  force  or  violence.  From  his  experiments  he  con- 
cluded that  the  electric  conflict  is  not  inclosed  in  the  conducting 
wire,  but  that  it  has  around  it  quite  an  extensive  sphere  of 
activity,  and  that  it,  acts  by  a  vortical  or  whirling  movement. 

A  few  weeks  alter  the  announcement  of  Oersted's  disco1 

Ampere,  by  his  experiments,  discovered  that  two  parallel  con- 
junctive wires,  from  opposite  poles  of  a  Voltaic  pile, attract 
other,  when  electricity  traverses  them  in  the  same  direction ; 
and  that  they  repel  ea<-h  other  it'  the  electric  currents  move  in 
oppo-ite  dir>  jiiel    of  Ampt-re's  lahours   showed 

;>rocal   action   of  the  elements  of  two  currents   is 
•d  in  conformity  with  the  line  which  unites  their  cei 

"ii   the  mutual  inclination  of  these  elements, 
and  that  it  vane-  in  intensity  in  the  Inverse  ratio  of  the  squares 

of  tli-  ,      Am|H-re   final!  d^-d    in    establishing 

a  conjunctive  wire  wound   into  a  helix  or  spiral   curved 

•y  dose  spin  i-itive  to  the  magnetic  action 

of  the  earth.      For  many  weeks  there  was  to  be  seen  in   his 

cabinet    a    conjunctive    wire    of   platina,   whose    position    was 


93 

determined  by  the  action  of  the  terrestrial  globe.  Ampere, 
by  constructing  a  galvanic  compass,  bad  shown  that  tin.-  forces 
which  act  in  the  magnetic  needle  are  electric  current  <,  and  by 
his  learned  calculations  on  the  the  reciprocal  action  of  these 
currents,  he  accounted  for  all  the  actions  which  the  conjunctive 
wire  of  the  pile  exerts,  in  the  experiment  of  Oersted,  on  the 
magnetic  needle. 

M.  Arago.  the  eminent  French  astronomer,  associated  witn 
Ampere  in  some  of  his  experiments,  says:  "I  coiled  copper 
wire  for  a  length  of  two  inches,  from  right  to  left,  into  a  helix  '•> 
then  an  equal  length  of  wire  in  the  same  manner,  from  left 
to  right ;  and  lastly,  a  similar  quantity  again  from  right  to  left. 
These  three  helices  were  separated  from  each  other  by  recti- 
linear portions  of  the  same  wire. 

"  One  and  the  same  steel  cylinder  of  a  suitable  length  and  of 
rather  more  than  .04  of  an  inch  diameter,  and  enclosed  in  a 
glass  tube,  was  inserted  in  the  three  helices  at  once.  The  gal- 
vanic current,  in  passing  along  the  coils  of  these  different 
helices,  magnetized  the  corresponding  portions  of  the  steel 
cylinder,  as  if  they  had  been  detached  and  separate  from  each 
other ;  for  I  remarked  that  at  one  of  the  extremities  there 
was  a  north  pole,  at  two  inches  distance  a  south  pole,  farther 
on  a  second  south  pole  followed  by  a  north  pole ;  lastly,  a 
third  north  pole,  and  two  inches  farther  on,' or  at  the  other 
extremity  of  the  cylinder,  a  south  pole."  Thus,  by  this 
method,  the  number  of  these  intermediate  poles,  which  physi- 
cists have  denominated  consecutive  points,  could  be  multiplied 
at  pleasure.  M.  Arago  also  observed,  that  "if  the  intervals 
comprised  between  the  consecutive  helices  are  small,  the  parts 
of  the  steel  wire  or  cylinder,  corresponding  to  those  intervals, 
will  themselves  be  magnetized  as  if  the  movement  of  rotation 
impressed  on  the  magnetic  fluid,  according  to  Ampere's  idea, 
by  the  influence  of  a  helix,  was  continued  beyond  the  extreme 
spires  of  the  coil.'' 

As  the  conjunction  of  opposite  electricities,  according  to 
these  authorities,  develops  magnetism;  and  as  tornadoes, 
hurricanes,  cyclones,  and  other  atmospheric  disturbances  move 
in  spiral  curves  from  their  respective  points  of  departure  till 
their  terminations,  and  as,  according  to  Ampere  and  Arago, 
currents  of  electricity  passed  through  spiral  cylindrical  coils 
of  wire  develop  magnetism,  we  see  here  the  sources  of  the 
.supply  of  magnetism  to  our  planet,  its  atmosphere,  and  the 


94 

objects  upon  oi»  in  them.  This  magnetism,  so  developed,  is 
absorbed  by  every  object  in  nature.  Being  an  imponderable, 
its  p:  cannot  always  be  discerned  or  detected;  but  it 

resides  in  a  latent  form  everywhere,  till  it  is  evolved. by  the 
opposite  attraction  or  repulsion  of  some  object  approached  to 
it  which  is  also  magnetic. 

In  many  parts  of  the  world  springs  of  water  exist,  in  which 
a  great  degree  of  magnetic  power  is  manifested.  In  the  state 
of  Michigan  there  are  such  springs,  in  which,  if  penknives,  or 
small  pieces  of  iron,  or  steel,  should  be  immersed  for  a  few 
minutes,  they  would  become  highly  magnetic.  These  springs 
are  visited  and  bathed  in  every  year  by  thousands  of  per 
for  the  highly  curative  influences  over  diseases  that  they  exert. 

There  is  no  magnetism  in  the  earth  under  the  equatorial 
regions,  owing  to  the  heat  of  the  interior  of  the  central  parts 
of  the  planet,  which  destroys  magnetism.  This  is  proved  by 
the  magnetic  needle  losing  its  dip  under  the  equator.  I  think, 
also,  it  will  be  shown  that  the  magnetic  needle  has  no  dip  over 
the  Gulf  stream,  as  under  that  stream  the  interior  heat  of  the 
earth  has  a  Hue  extending  far  into  the  Arctic  regions,  through 
which  the  (Jiilf  stream  is  warmed,  and  magnetism  in  the 
earth  about  the  flue  destroyed;  the  same  will  be  found  to  he 
true,  also,  of  the  Japanese  current  that  runs  through  Behring's 
strait  to  the  Arctic  regions;  and  of  all  other  warm 'currents 
of  water  in  the  oceans.  The  evaporation  of  the  warm  waters 
of  the  Gulf  stream  and  of  the  Japanese  current  develops 
electricity,  which,  being  positive  as  the  waters  thereof  them- 
selves also  are,  they  are  both  attracted  by  the  negative 
tricity  of  the  waters  of  the  Arctic  ocean  ;  and  those  currents  flow 
in  that  direction.  It  will  be  found  that  terrestrial  magnetism 
is  irregularly  distributed  in  the  crust  of  the  earth,  and  the 
magnetism  of  the.  Northern  Hemisphere  being  attracted  to 
the  S.>uth  Pole,  while  that  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere  being 
attracted  to  the  North  Pole,  these  opposite  attractions  have 
increased  the  equatorial  diameter  of  the  earth  twenty-six 
miles  more  than  the  polar  diameter;  and  the  earth's 
under  the  equator  having  been  thickened  by  the  addition  of 
so  much  material  taken  from  other  parts  of  the  sphere,  it  fol- 
lows as  highly  probable  that  basins  filled  with  seas  have 
;e  poles  of  the  earth,  and  that  oceanic  currents 
from  the  North  and  South  Poles,  respectively,  are  produced 
by  the  rotation  of  the  earth  on  its  axis,  throwing  oif  the  sur- 
plus of  accumulated  water  at  the  poles,  and  thus  the  circula- 


95 


tion  of  water  in  oceans  and  seas  is  produced,  in  spiral  curves 
from  the  polar  basins. 


Ihave^in  the  former  editions  of  this  work,  sui^ostr.l  that 
the  rotation  of  the  earth  on  its  axis  is  the  result  of  electrical 
forces  within  it,  excited  by  the  juxtaposition  of  the  materials 
of  various  kinds  forming  its  composition,  and  having  opposite 
electrical  polarities. 

I  have  an  illustration  at  hand  to  prove 
this.  A  neighbour  of  mine  recently 
erected  in  the  rear  of  his  house  a  one"- 
storied  dining-room,  in  which  was  a 
chimney  which  projected  some  three  feet 
above  the  roof  of  the  building  —  which 
was  12  feet  above  the  ground  —  on  the  top 
of  the  chimney  he  placed  a  sheet-iron 
cowl  in  the  form  of  a  truncated  hollow 
ellipsoid  with  spiral  flanges  from  top  to 
bottom  of  the  cowl.  When  there  is  no 
fire  in  the  chimney  the  cowl  is  at  rest, 
when  a  fire  is  kindled,  as  the  air  in  the 
chimney  becomes  heated  and,  accompanied  by  its  positive 
electricity,  rises  to  the  top,  it  meets  with  resistance  in  the 
flanges  of  the  cowl,  which  only  begin  to  turn  when  the  gather- 
ing positive  electricity  of  the  warm  air  attracted  by  the  greater 
negative  electricity  of  the  outer  atmosphere  forces  its  way 
through  the  openings  and  along  the  surface  of  the  metalic 
cowl  and  sets  it  in  motion,  and  according  as  the  combustion 
is  more  active  so  is  the  rotation  of  the  cowl  on  its  axis  the 
more  rapid,  and  the  draught  of  the  chimney  is  so  increased 
that  finally  the  flanges  of  the  cowl  can  no  longer  be  distin- 
guished in  their  rotation. 

So  in  the  interior  of  the  earth  the  intense  positive  electricity 
evolved  there,  in  conjunction  with  the  negative  electricity 
also  there  in  great  quantities,  produces  enormous  heat,  which 
fusing  metals  and  disengaging  gases  of  great  volume  and 
expansive  power,  forces  them  against  the  irregular  surfaces  of 
the  interior  of  the  crust  of  the  earth,  and  sets  the  ball  in  its 
rotary  motion  on  its  axis. 

Similar  causes  produce  like  effects  in  the  interior  of  the  sun 
and  of  all  the  planets,  giving  them  all  the  rotation  on  their 
respective  axes  that  we  know  they  have.  AYith  the  electricity 
thus  evolved  and  escaping  as  it  is  formed  at  their  respective 


96 

poles,  currents  of  magnetism  are  evolved  at  right  angles  to  the 
currents  of  electricity  and  cause  the  revolutions  on  their  axes 
to  be  from  west  to  east. 

There  is  no  necessity,  therefore,  for  our  astronomers  to 
suppose  that  the  Almighty  has  created  the  sun  to  be  an 
incandescent  body,  whose  combustion  is  to  be  fed  by  half  a 
world  to  illuminate  the  remainder.  The  sun,  in  fact,  is  proba- 
bly only  a  huge  reflector  or  mirror,  receiving  the  rays  of  light 
from  every  orb,  which  rays  themselves  are  of  various  tints,  as 
every  planet  and  star  has  a  colour -peculiar  to  itself,  and  the 
groupings  of  these  primary  colours  in  the  sun,  and  their  re- 
flections from  him  constitute  the  white  light  that  we  call  sun- 
light. This  explanation  is  in  harmony  with  our  ideas  of  the 
Divine  economy,  which  never  wastes  any  of  its  material.  The 
sun  is  a  great  magnet,  and  regulates  and  controls  by  magnet- 
ism and  not  by  gravitation  all  the  planets  of  his  system,  which, 
consequently,  arc  severally  all  magnets.  The  system  is  held 
in  its  place  and  conforms  in  its  movements  by  its  magnetism 
to  the  movements  of  all  the  orbs  which  exist  in  space. 

As  these  planets  are  all  magnets,  they  can  have  no  other 
heat  than  their  own  internal  heat,  which  is  simply  sufficient 
to  produce  their  respective  rotations  on  their  several  axes,  as 
heat  in  intensity  destroys  magnetism. 

The  reversal  of  the  tails  of  comets  in  their  approach  to  the 
sun  and  departure  from  him,  is  due  to  the  attraction  and 
repulsion  respectively  of  their  magnetic  poles — by  induction 
from  the  greater  magnetism  of  the  sun  itself. 

Winds  are  simply  currents  of  electrified  air,  repelled  from 
their  points  of  departure  by  air  similarly  electrified,  and 
attracted  in  their  various  directions  by  air  at  rest  or  in  motion, 
as  it  may  be,  with  opposite  electricities.  These  repellent  and 
attractive  electricities  acting  on  a  strong  current  of  air,  cause 
it  to  be  deflected  from  its  rectilinear  direction,  and  to  assume 
a  spiral  curve  in  its  course,  continually  contracting  towards 
its  centre,  till  the  opposing  olectrk-ities  equalize  each  other, 
when  the  electrical  equilibrium  is  restored,  and  a  calm  ensues. 
During  the  continuance  of  the  movements  of  the  oppositely 
electrified  currents  of  air  in  these  spiral  curves,  magnetism  is 
developed,  and  this  is  the  source  ol'  magnetism  in  the  atmos- 
phere. 

Magnetism  in  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  likewise  developed 


97 

there  by  the  conj auction  of  opposite  electrical  currents  cir- 
culating continually  through  it.  This  magnetism  permeates 
through  its  various  molecules,  supplying  them  with  magnetic 
attraction  and  repulsion,  and  thus  matter,  from  its  suscepti- 
bility of  becoming  magnetized,  assumes  the  power  of  attrac- 
tion attributed  to  gravitation. 

Having  thus  shown  the  source  from  which  atmospheric  as 
well  as  terrestrial  magnetism  is  derived,  we  proceed  to  men- 
tion some  of  its  attributes. 

The  term  magnetism,  which  is  applied  to  the  science  that 
describes  the  modes  and  properties  of  a  remarkable  force  pos- 
sessing attractive  and  repellent  qualities,  is  derived  from  a 
magnetic  iron  ore,  that  was  first  noticed  near  Magnesia,  and 
hence  was  named  by  the  ancient  Greeks,  Magnes.  It  had  the 
peculiar  property  of  attracting  iron.  This  force  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  mineral,  but  seems  to  pervade  all  nature.  It  is, 
produced  by  the  meeting  of  currents  of  opposite  electricities 
in  the  crust  of  the  earth  and  in  our  atmosphere.  Its  existence 
in  the  fixed  stars,  in  the  infinite  number  of  orbs,  in  the  firma- 
ment, in  the  nebulae,  comets,  meteors,  &c.,  may  be  attributed 
to  a  similar  origin.  The  primary  rays  of  light  from  these 
illuminated  orbs,  of  greatly  diversified  colours,  passing  with 
almost  incredible  velocity  from  them  to  our  sun,  through 
interstellar  and  interplanetary  spaces  whose  temperature  is 
inconceivably  low,  and  consequently  associated  with  negative 
electricity,  developing  as  they  pass  through  this  attenuated 
ether,  which  fills  these  spaces,  by  friction  therewith,  negative 
electricity,  may  be  supposed  to  enter  the  photosphere  of  the 
sun  charged  with  negative  electricity.  This  negative 
electricity  being  homogeneous,  of  immense  volume,  and  great 
intensity,  repels  these  commingled  primary  rays  of  light,  by 
reflection  from  the  body  of  the  sun  on  their  impact  with  it, 
with  the  enormous  velocity  which  belongs  to  light.  The 
.mixture  of  these  primary  rays  of  various  colours  produces  the 
white  light  of  the  sun,  or,  as  we  call  it,  sunlight.  This  sun- 
light, negatively  electrified,  driven  with  this  immense  speed 
to  the  most  distant  orbs  of  creation,  encounters  in  their  atmos- 
phere, when  such  exist,  and  by  impact  with  the  bodies  of 
these  orbs  themselves,  which  have  each  a  greater  density  than 
has  the  ether  through  which  it  had  passed,  great  resistance. 
This  impact  produces  friction,  and  friction  electricity. 

The  friction  of  matter  having  a  temperature  above  32°  of 


98 

Fahrenheit  evolves  positive  electricity,  while  that  of  matter 
whose  temperature  is  below  32°  of  Fahrenheit  evolves  neira- 
tive  electricity.  When  two  blocks  of  ice  are  rubbed  tog' 
they  adhere  by  their  contiguous  surfaces  with  a  force  greater 
than  that  by  which  the  molecules  of  either  block  of  ice  are 
held  together,  and  a  fracture  of  the  ice  will  occur  anywhere 
in  the  blocks  before  it  will  at  their  junction.  A  notable 
illustration  of  the  friction  of  matter,  below  32°  of  Fahrenheit, 
producing  cold  and  its  associate  negative  electricity,  is 
furnished  every  day  in  the  manufacture  of  iced  creams  and 
juices  of  fruits.  The  cylinder  containing  the  material  to  be 
frozen  is  placed  in  another  vessel,  surrounded  by  a  freezing 
mixture  of  broken  ice  and  common  salt;  by  turning  this 
cylinder  rapidly  in  this  mixture  friction  is  produced,  which, 
in  abstracting  the  heat  from  the  cream  or  juices  of  fruits  to 
be  frozen,  reduces  their  temperature,  and  the  cold  of  the 
freezing  mixture,  with  its  negative  electricity,  is  transferred 
to  the  cream  or  juices  of  fruits. 

We  may  infer  an  analogy  between  the  composition  of  these 
distant  orbs  of  the  firmament  and  that  of  our  own  planet,  nud 
that  an  opposite  electricity  to  that  of  sunlight  exists  in  them. 
The  conjunction  of  these  opposing  electricities  develops  magnet- 
ism, which  at  once  seizes  upon  the  matter  of  which  such  orbs  are 
composed  and  imparts  to  it  the  attractive  and  repellent  qualities 
that  it  possesses.  The  orb  assumes  the  form  of  an  oblate  sj  >heroid 
or  an  ellipsoid,  with  its  equatorial  diameter  longer  than  its  polar 
diameter,  thickened  at  its  equator  and  flattened  at  its  poles. 
This  form  imposes  on  it  an  elliptical  orbit  in  which  it  revolves 
around  its  local  attraction.  This  form  in  the  planets  and  pro- 
bably the  fixed  stars,  as  in  the  earth,  is  derived  from  the 
opposite  attractions  and  repulsions  of  matter  in  their  different 
hemispheres — that  in  their  northern  hemisphere  being  attracted 
to  the  south  pole,  and  that  in  the  southern  hemisphere  being 
oppositely  attracted  to  the  north  pole — and  thus  meeting  at 
their  respective  equators,  where  these  opposite  attractions 
neutralize  each  other,  they  become  thickened  there  at  the 
use  of  the  matter  at  their  poles  respectively.  The  force 
which  drives  the  sunlight  from  our  sun,  after  its  reflection 
from  its  body,  is  probably  negative  electricity,  for  we  cannot 
conceive  of  any  other  force  adequate  to  produce  such  an  effect. 

It  is  this  force  of  magnetism  of  which  Newton  in  his  day 
had  some  slight  knowledge,  but  not  comprehending  it  as  it 
exists,  he  assigned  such  of  its  qualities  as  he  had  discovered 


99 

erroneously  to  matter,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  gravitation,  as 
if  a  planet,  if  such  could  be  made,  of  cotton,  rice,  tol. 
butter,  cheese  and  molasses,  would  revolve  upon  its  axis  from 
its  own  weight  and  travel  in  an  orbit  around  the  sun. 

This  force  magnetises  all  things,  imparting  to  them  its  at- 
tractions and  repulsions,  and  thus  regulates  and  controls  the 
movements  throughout  the  universe. 

Let  us  notice  some  of  the  pecularities  of  this  force.  "  Some 
iron  ores  are  natural  magnets ;  steel  rods,  straight,  or  curved 
like  horseshoes,  to  which  magnetism  has  been  imparted, 
as  also  steel  needles  similarly  treated,  are  artificial  magnets. 
The  magnetic  force  is  greatest  at  the  ends  of  the  rods  or 
needles,  attracting  there  steel  or  iron  filings,  but  diminishing 
in  power  as  the  distance  from  the  extremities  is  increased,  and 
ceasing  altogether  midway  between  their  ends.  The  ex- 
tremities of  the  rods  or  needles  are  called  its  poles  ;  midway 
between  them,  where  the  force  ceases,  is  called  their  magnetic 
equator.  A  light  needle  magnetised,  such  as  is  used  in  the 
mariner's  compass,  properly  balanced  and  suspended  by  its 
centre  is  called  a  magnetic  needle.  When  not  restrained  it 
ranges  itself  nearly  parallel  to  a  line  joining  the  north  and 
south  poles  of  the  earth,  one  end  of  the  needle  pointing  to  the 
north,  the  other  end  directed  to  the  south  pole.  Turned  from 
its  direction  and  then  released,  it  resumes  again  its  natural  posi- 
tion of  pointing  north  and  south.  These  ends  or  poles  of  a 
magnet  are  respectively  attached  to  the  poles  of  the  earth  to 
which  they  point,  and  are  repelled  from  the  opposite  poles 
reciprocally.  In  two  magnets  the  corresponding  poles,  if  ap- 
proached to  each  other,  would  each  repel  the  other  and  attract 
the  opposite  pole  of  the  other  magnet."  It  is  to  this  attribute 
of  the  magnet  that  the  earth  owes  its  form  of  an  oblate 
spheroid.  The  earth  being  a  magnet,  the  materials  composing 
its  crust  in  the  northern  hemisphere  have  been  attracted  to- 
wards the  sonth  pole,  and  the  matter  in  the  earth's  crust  in 
the  southern  hemisphere,  being  also  magnetic,  have  been  at- 
tracted towards  the  north  pole.  These  forces  being  equal 
and  having  ceased  at  the  equator,  the  matters  brought  by  them 
respectively  from  their  several  hemispheres  have  been 
accumulated  and  deposited  in  the  equatorial  regions  of  the 
earth,  which  mass  of  matters  has  so  much  increased  the 
equatorial  diameter  of  the  earth  that  it  exceeds  the  polar 
diameter  in  length  26  miles.  It  is  probable  that  the  material 
thus  removed  from  the  Doles  of  the  earth  to  its  equator,  have 


100 

BO  hollowed  out  the  crust  of  the  earth  at  the  poles  into  basins 
that  seas  have  been  formed  in  them,  which  have  been  filled 
with  water  from  the  Pacific  ocean  through  Behring's  straits,  and 
Atlantic  ocean  by  the  Gulf  Stream.  As  the  planets  are  all 
doubtless  formed  upon  the  same  principle  as  those  on  which 
the  earth  is  established,  and  as  we  know  that  similar  differ- 
ences exist  between  the  equatorial  and  polar  diameters  of 
these  orbs  to  the  extent  of  25  miles  in  Mars,  6000  miles  in 
Jupiter,  and  7500  miles  in  Saturn,  we  may  reasonably  infer 
that  magnetic  attraction  and  repulsion  have  increased  their 
equatorial  diameters  at  the  expense  of  their  polar  diameters 
in  the  proportions  mentioned,  and  that  like  the  earth  they  are 
all  magnets,  and  owe  their  axial  and  orbitual  rotations  to 
magnetism,  and  not  to  gravitation.  In  this  increase  of  matter 
in  the  equatorial  regions  of  these  planets  of  our  system,  we 
have  the  most  conclusive  evidence  that  the  attraction  of  mat- 
ter in  these  orbs  is  to  their  respective  equators,  and  not  to  their 
respective  centres  as  Newton  supposed. 

~W~hen  we  regard  these  immense  differences  in  the  equatorial 
and  polar  diameters  of  the  planets,  Jupiter  and  Saturn — that  of 
Jupiter  being  6000  miles,  and  that  of  Saturn  7500  miles, 
we  begin  to  comprehend,  in  a  slight  degree,  the  idea  of  the 
Creator  in  placing  these  planets  at  such  immensely  great 
distances  from  the  sun,  while  lie  invests  them  with  a  magnet- 
ism so  transcendantly  powerful  in  its  attractions  and  repulsions, 
that  their  revolutions  around  the  sun  are  performed  with  a 
marvelous  certainty  and  exactitude.  The  law  of  magnetic 
attraction  and  repulsion  between  objects  being  inversely  as 
the  square  of  the  distance,  those  distant  orbs  must  have  a 
propelling  or  repellent  power  at  their  greatest  distances  from 
the  sun  of  almost  infinite  magnitude,  to  bring  them  within 
the  attractive  power  of  the  sun,  so  as  to  pass  over  such 
immense  spaces  in  their  allotted  times.  It  is  the  repellent 
power  of  magnetism  that  returns  them  towards  the  sun. 

"  Similiar  polea  of  a  magnet  repel,  and  contrary  poles 
attract  one  another;  magnetic  poles  always  occur  in  pairs.  If 
a  magnet  be  broken  into  many  pieces,  each  fragment  is  found 
to  have  its  north  and  south  poles. 

"Magnetic  attraction  and  repulsion  vary  inversely  as  the 
square  of  the  distance  between  the  magnet  and  the  body 
attracted  or  repelled. 

"  If  in  two  magnets  of  equal  strength,  the  north  pole  of  one 


101 

• 

of  them  be  placed  in  contact  with  the  south  pole  of  the  other 
magnet,  all  attractive  force  will  disappear.  Remove  the 
contact,  and  the  magnetic  force  is  restored  in  each  of  the 
magnets. 

"  If  a  pole  of  a  permanent  magnet  is  placed  near  to  the  end 
of  a  bar  of  soft  iron,  this  bar  will  be  magnetized  by  induction, 
the  end  of  the  soft  bar  next  to  the  pole  of  the  magnet  having 
there  an  opposite  pole  to  that  of  the  magnets,  while  at  the 
other  end  of  the  iron  bar  will  be  found  a  contrary  magnetic 
pole.  Magnetization  by  induction,  may  be  effected  through  a 
plate  of  glass,  wood,  metal,  &c.,  without  detriment.  This 
condition  vanishes  as  soon  as  the  magnet  is  withdrawn. 

"Besides  iron  and  steel,  nickel,  cobalt,  manganese,  chro- 
mium, platinum,  oxygen  gas  and  many  other  substances,  suffer 
attraction  by  a  magnet.  Heat  powerfully  influences  magnet- 
ism. A  magnet  if  heated  to  redness,  loses  all  its  magnetism, 
and  a  red  hot  ball  is  not  atttracted  by  a  magnet. 

"  Every  magnetic  substance  has  its  limit  of  temperature ; 
thus  cobalt  does  not  cease  to  be  attracted  at  a  white  heat;  iron 
ceases  to  be  attracted  at  a  red  heat;  chromium  just  below  a 
red  heat;  nickel  at  350°  Fahrenheit;  and  manganese  is  not 
attracted  on  a  warm  summer  day.  Hence  it  is  probable  that 
certain  substances  which  do  not  appear,  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, to  be  attracted  by  a  magnet  would  be  attracted  if 
their  temperature  was  reduced  to  a  sufficiently  low  degree. 

"A  magnetic  needle  tends  to  set  itself  in  a  line  with  the 
poles  of  the  earth,  and  if  moved  from  this  position  returns  to 
it,  as  if  it  was  in  the  presence  of  another  magnet.  This  is  due 
to  the  magnetism  of  the  earth — in  fact,  the  earth  is  a  huge 
magnet,  the  poles  and  equator  of  which  do  not  coincide  with 
the  geographical  poles  and  equator. 

"  The  magnetic  meridian  of  a  place  is  a  vertical  plane  which 
passes  through  the  two  poles  of  a  horizontally  suspended 
magnetic  needle  at  this  place,  and  which  being  continued  in 
both  directions  will,  of  course,  pass  through  the  magnetic 
poles  of  the  earth.  The  magnetic  meridian  of  a  place  will 
not  coincide  with  its  geographical  meridian,  and  the  angle 
formed  by  the  two  meridians  is  called  the  magnetic  deviation, 
variation  or  declination,  at  this  place. 

"  The  variation  of  the  needle  does  not  always  remain  the 
same.  In  the  year  1580  (the  first  year  in  which  accurate 


102 

• 

observations  were  made)  the  north  end  of  the  needle  deviated 
11°  15'  to  the  east  of  the  true  north  in  London.  In  1(322  the 
deviation  was  6°  cast  of  the  north,  and  in  1GGO  the  magnetic 
north  pole  coincided  with  the  geographical  north  pole.  In 
1UH2  it  hud  passed  to  6°  west  of  north.  In  17(>5  it  was  20° 
west;  and  in  1818  it  attained  its  maximum  westerly  deviation — 
24°  41'.  It  is  now  returning  to  the  north.  In  1850  the 
rly  deviation  was  22°  30';  and  in  October,  1871,  the  de- 
viation observed  at  the  Kerr  Observatory  was  20°  18'  7". 
This  is  the  secular  variation  of  the  magnetic  needle.  A  deli- 
cately suspended  magnet  may  be  observed  to  undergo  an 
annual,  daily,  and  even  hourly  variation. 

"If  a  steel  needle  be  accurately  balanced  about  a  horizontal* 
centre,  and  be  there  magnetized,  it  will  no  longer  be  in  hori- 
zontal equilibrium.  In  London  the  north  end  of  the  needle 
will  dip  down,  forming  an  angle  of  more  than  60°,  with  a 
horizontal  plane.  The  angle  which  a  magnetic  needle, 
capable  of  vertical  movement,  (dipping  needle,}  makes  with  a 
horizontal  plane  is  called  the  angle  of  inclination  or  dip.  The 
vertical  plane  in  which  the  needle  moves  must  coincide  with 
the  magnetic  meridian  of  the  place. 

"  The  dip  varies  in   different  parts   of  the  world.     If  we 
convey  a  dipping  needle  north  of  London  the  dip  incre: 
if,   on    the    other   hand,   we   go   south   of    London   the    dip 
diminishes;    at   the   magnetic  equator  there  is    no  dip,   the 
needle  is  perfectly  horizontal;   and  south  of  the  equator  the 
south  pole  of  the  needle  begins  to  dip,  and  the  dip  incr 
as  we  go  further  south.     Thus  the  dip  at   Tern  is  0°,  at  Lima 
10°  30',  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  34%  and  at  Hudson's  Bay 
between  89°  and 

"  The  magnetic  poles  of  the  earth    are  those  points  on    the 
earth's  surface  at  which  a  dipping  needle  assumes  a  vertical 

Son.     The  north    magnetic    pole  was    discovered    by   Sir 
ames  Ko<s,  in  1830.     It  is  situated  in  longitude  96°  43'  west, 
latitude    79°    north.     The   south   magnetic   pole,   is   as   yet, 
unknown. 

"The  magnetic  equator  of  the  earth  is  a  line  connecting  all 
"ii  the  earth's  surface,  at  which  t  here  is  no  dip. 
It  is  an  irregular  closed  circular  line  cutting  the  terrestrial 
equator  at  four  points.  The  dip  of  a  magnetic  needle  in 
subject  to  both  secular  and  periodic  changes.  Thus  in  1~>76 
it  was  71C  51'  in  London;  a  hundred  years  later,  it  was  73° 


103 

30',  and  in  172-3,  it  reached  a  maximum  of  74°  1-'.     In  1800, 
it   had  decreased   to  70°  -').V,  and    in    October  1871,  the  dip 
;ored  at  the  Kew  Observatory  was  67°  50'  3".     The  dip 
also  undergoes  annual  and  daily  diang> 

"  If  a  horizontally  suspended  magnetic  needle   be   moved 

from  its  position  of  rest,  it  returns  to  it,  passes  it,  and  oscil- 
luickwards  and  forwards  across  the  final  position  of  n-st 
in   the  magnetic  meridian  of  the  place;  in  fact,  it  becoi, 
horizontal  pendulum  oscillating  under   the   influence  of  the 
earth's  magnetism.     It  haa  been  proved  that  the  intensi 
the  earth's  magnetism,  at  any  two  places,  is  proportional  to 
the  square  of  the  number  of  oscillations  made  by  the  same 
magnetic  needle  at  these  places. 

"  Various  determinations  of  the  intensity  of  the  earth's 
magnetism  prove  that  the  force  increases  as  we  pass  from  the 
equator  to  the  poles,  as  in  an  ordinary  magnet.  Thus  if  the 
intensity  at  Peru  be  taken  as  unity,  the  intensity  in  London 
will  be  represented  by  1.369,  and  at  Baffin's  Bay  by  1.707. 

"  All  matter  is  affected  by  a  powerful  magnet,  but  while 
many  substances  (iron,  nickel,  manganese,  oxygen  gas,  &c.,) 
are  attracted,  other  substances  (bismuth,  copper,  hydrogen, 
&c.,)  are  repelled  by  both  poles  of  the  magnet. 

"  If  a  small  bar  of  iron  or  other  attracted  substance,  be  sus- 
pended between  the  poles  of  a  magnet,  the  bar  will  set  itself 
axially,  that  is  with  its  length  in  a  line  joining  the  two  poles. 
If  on  the  other  band  a  bar  of  bismuth  or  other  repelled  sub- 
stance be  suspended  in  a  like  position,  it  will  set  itself  equatori- 
ally,  that  is  at  right  angles  to  a  line  joining  the  poles  of  the 
magnet,  because  as  it  is  repelled  by  both  poles,  it  will 
endeavor  to  keep  as  far  away  from  them  as  possible.  Such 
bodies  are  called  dia-magnetic. 

In  Professor  Tyndall's  introduction  to  his  "  Researches  on 
Dia-Magnetism,"  writing  of  Professor  Faraday,  he  states, 
"  That  having  laid  hold  of  the  fact  of  repulsion,  he  immedi- 
ately expanded  and  multiplied  it.  He  subjected  bodies  of  the 
most  various  qualities  to  the  action  of  his  magnet ;  mineral 
salts,  acids,  alkalies,  ethers,  alcohols,  aqueous  solutions,  glass, 
phosphorus,  resins,  oils,  essences,  vegetable  and  animal 
tissues,  and  found  them  all  amenable  to  magnetic  influence. 
Ko  known  solid  or  liquid  proved  insensible  to  the  magnetic 
power.  When  developed  in  sufficient  strength,  all  the  tissues 


104 

of  the  human  body,  the  blood — though  it  contains  iron — 
included,  were  proved  to  be  dia-magnetic,  so  that  if  you  oould 
suspend  a  man  between  the  poles  of  a  magnet,  his  extremities 
would  retreat  from  the  poles,  until  his  length  became  equato- 
rial," that  is  to  say,  horizontally  peroeudicular  to  the  magnetic 
meridian. 

From  the  dip  or  inclination  of  the  magnetic  needle  on 
various  parts  of  the  earth's  surface — as  magnetism  is  a  dual 
force — we  infer  that  one  of  its  poles  is  attracted  by  the 
magnetism  existing  in  the  upper  atmosphere,  while  the  other 
is  attracted  to  the  magnetism  in  the  crust  of  the  earth 
beneath.  At  Peru  the  dip  is  0°,  owing  probably  to  the 
heat  in  the  interior  of  the  earth  under  Peru,  which  is 
frequently  manifested  in  the  most  violent  earthquakes  and 
volcanic  action,  and  heat  we  know  destroys  magnetism.  As 
the  dip  of  the  needle  in  either  hemisphere  increases  from  the 
magnetic  equator  toward  the  poles,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
magnetism  in  the  upper  atmosphere,  as  well  as  in  the  crust  of 
the  earth,  also  increases  in  a  like  proportion,  attributable 
doubtless  to  the  increased  cold,  both  of  the  upper  atmosphere 
and  the  crust  of  the  earth  in  high  latitude,  and  as  negative 
electricity  and  magnetism  are  both  associated  with  extreme 
cold,  we  find  herein  an  explanation  of  the  dip  of  the  magnetic 
needle. 

In   the   attraction   and  repulsion  of  the  magnetic  needle, 
horizontally,  at  the  magnetic  equator  towards  the  north  and 
south  poles  of  the  earth,  we  have  a  dual  horizontal  force.     In 
the  deviation  of  the  needle  east  or  west  of  north  or  south,  we 
another  dual  force  acting  horizontally.     In  the  class  of 
subjects  called  dia-rnagnetic,  which  arrange  themselves  at  right 
angles    to    the    magnetic    meridian,    or    e<|uatorialiy   as    it    is 
terni"d,  we  have  another  dual  force  acting  horizontally.     In 
tin-   dip    of  the   needle,  which    is    nothing   at    the    magnetic 
equator,  but  whose  angle  with  the  horizon    increasing  there- 
from as  we  advance  towards  either  pole  till  it  readies  90°   or 
a  quadrant  of  a  circle,  we  find  another  dual  force  with  one 
les  in  the  frozen  crust  of  the  earth,  while  an  opposite 
ies  is  in  the  equally  frozen  regions  of  the  arctic  and 
antarctic  upper  atmosphere  of  our  pi; 

These  fop^s  with  electricity  and  heat,  all  developed  by 
light  and  controlled  by  the  omniscient  wisdom  of  the 
Almighty,  arc  the  powers  which  regulate  the  motions  of  our 
planet  and  preserve  it  in  its  integrity. 


105 

We  may  well  dispense,  therefore,  with  the  whole  theory  of 
centripetal  and  centrifugal  forces,  aud  of  the  attraction  of  matter 
by  weight,  which  continually  is  being  changed  with  the  forms 
and  positions  it  assumes,  the  same  substance  being  at  one  time 
solid  and  fixed  to  the  earth,  then  liquid  and  movable  on  ita 
surface  and  again  gaseous  and  floating  in  its  atmosphere 
above  it. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  of  magnetism,  it  is  curious 
to  observe  that  in  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms  the 
forms  of  their  productions  all  conform,  in  a  greater  or  lesser 
degree,  to  the  typical  forms  of  ellipsoids,  or  oblate  spheroids, 
as  manifested  in  the  planets.  Examine  the  forms  of  our  trees. 
Vertical  or  horizontal  sections,  when  they  are  in  full  leaf, 
would  disclose  curved  lines,  which,  if  tangential  to  the  ex- 
tremities of  their  leafy  branches,  would  represent  the  elements 
of  an  ellipse — in  some  cases  elongated,  in  others  approaching 
nearly  to  the  form  of  a  circle.  So  with  their  leaves,  however 
long  and  narrow  they  may  be,  the  elemental  character  of  the 
ellipse  is  apparent  in  them.  The  fruits  they  bear  have  all 
similar  characteristics.  The  apple,  the  peach,  the  pear,  the 
apricot,  the  nectarine,  and  indeed  all  the  stone  fruits,  have 
shapes  corresponding  nearly  to  the  ellipsoid.  The  nut-bearing 
trees, 'from  the  cocoa-nut  through  the  walnuts,  hickories, 
pecan  nuts,  chestnuts  and  beeches,  all  produce  fruits  which, 
in  their  outer  forms,  partake  of  the  character  of  ellipsoids,  or 
oblate  spheroids.  The  coffee  berry,  the  olive,  the  fig,  the  date, 
all  correspond  in  their  general  forms  to  the  same  type.  Among 
what  are  called  vegetables,  from  the  enormous  melon,  in  all 
its  varieties,  through  the  pod-bearing  plants,  the  cabbage,  &c., 
the  same  type  is  visible.  So  in  the  roots  and  tubers;  the 
turnip  is  an  oblate  spheroid,  the  potato  commonly  an  ellip- 
soid, as  are  also  the  carrot  and  the  parsnip.  In  the  seeds  of 
the  family  of  grapes,  as  well  as  in  their  leaves,  the  same  forms 
are  found.  The  bunches  of  grapes,  as  well  as  their  berries, 
are  all  of  the  same  characteristic  form.  Take  even  the  grasses 
— in  which  may  be  included  the  cereals.  Their  long  and  nar- 
row leaves  are  all  elliptical  in  form,  though  they  may,  in  some 
cases,  be  pointed  at  their  outer  extremities.  These  long  leaves 
assume  the  form  of  a  semi-ellipse,  in  their  curvature  from  the 
stem  or  branches,  from  which  they  grow,  towards  the  ground. 
So  it  is  with  the  long  blades  of  maize  or  Indian  corn,  the  sugar 
cane,  and  sorghum.  The  leaves,  fruits  and  branches  of  trees, 
for  the  most  part,  have  an  inclination  towards  the  earth,  and 
are  commonly  pendant.  Their  tops  are  attracted  upwards, 


106 

and  are  frequently  vertical.  Why  do  their  branches  extend 
laterally  and  downwards,  while  their  trunks  and  summits 
ascend  vertically  in  the  atmosphere?  And  why  do  their 
s  and  fruits  hang  downwards?  Is  it  not  because  of  their 
magnetic  condition  't  Now,  the  leaves,  fruits  and  branel 
trees,  which  pursue  horizontal,  or  slightly  inclined  directions, 
uutv  be  supposed  to  be  dia-magnetic,  aud  under  the  influence 
of  the  horizontal  currents  of  magnetism  that  set  equatorially 
to  the  magnetic  meridian;  while  the  trunks  and  summits,  re- 
pelled by  the  magnetism  of  the  earth,  are  attracted  by  the  op- 
posite magnetism  of  the  upper  atmosphere,  and  rise  vertically. 
These  two  forces,  varying  in  intensity,  produce  all  the  resultant 
directions  which  their  branches  assume  in  their  development. 
Fruits  of  trees,  being  ellipsoidal  in  form,  (which  is  the  com- 
mon form  of  simple  magnets,)  and  generally  pendant  vertically, 
when  they  fall  to  the  ground  are  attracted  there  by  the  supe- 
rior magnetism  of  the  earth,  and  remain  on  it  by  the  same 
attraction,  unless  removed  from  it  by  a  superior  force. 

If  there  is  any  truth  in  the  story  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  hav- 
ing been  led  to  the  adoption  of  his  theory  of  gravitation,  and 
of  centripetal  and  centrifugal  forces,  by  tue  sight  of  an  apple 
falling  from  its  tree  to  the  ground,  it  is  to  be  lamented  that  he 
did  not  investigate  the  force  which  expanded  the  seed,  caused 
its  germination,  pushed  it  from  the  soil,  (where  l.y  gravitation 
it  should  have  remained,)  and  directed  its  development  up- 
wards and  laterally,  forming  its  fruit-bud,  blossom  and  fruit, 
and  holding  the  latter  suspended  in  the  air,  unail'ected  by  rain, 
hail  or  wind,  till  in  its  maturity,  its  growth  completed,  it  fell 
to  the  earth,  by  the  attractive  power  of  the  same  force  which 
had  repelled  its  parent  tree  from  the  soil.  I  Fad  he  done  so, 
we  might  not  now  be  compelled  to  begin  anew  the  study  of 
terrestrial  physics,  after  having  abandoned  the  learned  specu 
lations  of  this  celebrated  philosopher 

Now,  in  the  animal  kingdom,  we  will  begin  with  man,  who, 
we  flatter  ourselves,  is  the  highest  development  of  animal  life. 
As  he  stands  erect  upon  his  feet,  if  we  suppose  a  vertical  plane 
to  be  passed  through  his  person  laterally,  the  curved  line  so 
produced,  tangential  to  his  prominences,  would  be  an  ellipse. 
The  revolution  of  that  ellipse,  on  its  longer  axis,  would  pro- 
duce an  ellipsoid.  Now,  that  ellipsoid  ie,  during  the  life  of 
the  man,  a  magnet,  witli  opposite  .poles  at  its  head  and  feet, 
and  various  parts  of  his  body  are  also  separate  magnets,  but 
in  harmony  with  the  chief  magnet.  His  legs  are  a  horse  shoe 


10T 

magnet,  with  the  poles  in  the  feet,  and  the  five  toes  on  each 
of  his  feet  constitute,  for  each  foot,  four  horse  shoe  mag- 
nets. "When,  from  disordered  health,  the  magnetism  in  either 

leg  is  no  longer  produced,  paralysis  of  that  limb  results,  and 
the  contractile  and  expansive  power  of  the  muscles  is  no 
longer  acted  upon  by  the  electricity  of  the  system.  The  anus 
furnish  another  horse  shoe  magnet,  and  the  five  fingers  of  each 
hand  constitute,  each,  four  horse  shoe  magnets,  with  the  poles 
at  the  extremities.  The  optic,  nasal  and  auditory  nerves,  in 
each  pair  respectively,  constitute  a  horse  shoe  magnet.  The 
genital  organs  are  each  a  separate,  but  very  powerful  magnet, 
and  are  ellipsoids  in  form. 

In  quadrupeds,  the  fore  legs  are  a  horse  shoe  magnet,  as  also 
are  the  hind  legs.  The  split  hoofs  of  the  ruminants  are  also 
horse  shoe  magnets ;  so  are  the  round  hoofs  of  the  horse,  the 
ass,  the  mule  and  the  zebra,  with  their  poles  pointing  to  the 
rear,  instead  of  to  the  front.  A  lateral  horizontal  section  of  a 
quadruped  through  his  head,  neck  and  body,  would  develop 
an  elliptical  curve.  The  jaws  of  animals  are  separate  horse 
shoe  magnets.  A  serpent,  which  is  also  an  ellipsoid,  is  a  mag- 
net, and  when  it  is  coiled,  each  of  its  coils  preserves  the  ellip- 
soidal form.  The  same  type  runs  through  the  feathered  tribes, 
and  the  forms  of  the  fishes  everywhere  partake,  more  or  less, 
of  the  elementary  character  of  the  ellipsoid. 

In  the  investigation  of  this  subject  it  will  be  found  that  the 
attachment  of  animals  to  the  earth,  and  their  locomotion  upon 
it.  are  due  to  magnetism,  and  not  to  gravitation.  It  will  be 
observed,  that  in  all  animals,  their  bodies,  which  are  their 
heaviest  parts,  are  the  farthest  removed  from  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  which  could  not  be  the  case  if  they  were  held  to  the 
earth  by  the  attraction  of  their  weight  or  gravity.  As  New- 
ton's rule  is  that  the  attraction  of  gravitation  is  proportional  to 
the  mass  or  weight,  and,  as  the  head,  neck,  body  and  thighs 
are  the  heaviest  parts  of  the  animal,  they  should  be  nearest  to 
the  earth,  which  it  is  known,  they  are  not. 

Now,  why  is  this  type  so  universal — as  well  in  planets  as  in 
whatever  that  has  life  upon  them  ?  Is  it  not  because  of  mag- 
netism, that  has  developed  this  form  and  its  modifications? 
Does  not  the  magnetism  of  the  atmosphere  control  the  move- 
ments of  birds  by  its  attractions  and  repulsions;  of  the  sea, 
which  is  highly  magnetic,  those  of  the  fishes  and  marine 
animals  which  inhabit  it;  and  of  both  the  air  and  the  land, 
those  of  the  animals  who  live  upon  the  land,  and  of  the  plants 


108 

which  are  developed  in  its  soil  ?  Magnetism,  therefore,  is  an 
element  of  life,  in  plants  and  animals,  and  is  one  of  the  motive 
powers  of  planetary  and  stellar  movements  in  the  universe. 

Let  us  now  return  to  Moses  and  his  book  of  Genesis.  In 
the  2d  chapter  and  7th  verse,  he  says :  "  And  the  Lord  God 
formed  man  of  the  slime  of  the  earth,  and  breathed  into  his 
face  the  breath  of  life;  and  man  became  a  living  soul."  And 
in  the  21st  verse,  "  Then  the  Lord  God  cast  a  deep  sleep  upon 
Adam,  and  when  he  was  fast  asleep,  ho  took  one  of  his  ribs 
and  lillcd  up  flesh  for  it."  And  in  the  22d  verse,  "And  the 
Lord  God  built  the  rib  which  he  took  from  Adam  into  a 
woman,  and  brought  her  to  Adam."  When  we  remember  the 
history  of  Moses,  his  birth  of  Israelitish  parents,  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Goshen,  bordering  on  the  Delta  of  the  river  Nile ; 
the  attempt  of  his  mother  to  save  him  from  the  destruction 
decreed  by  Pharaoh  against  all  the  male  children  of  the  Hebrews, 
by  placing  him  on  the  river  Nile,  in  a  water  tight  cradle  made 
of  papyrus,  among  the  water  plants  of  that  stream ;  his  dis- 
covery by  Pharaoh's  daughter  as  she  was  proceeding  to  bathe 
in  the  river  near  by;  his  delivery  to  his  mother  to  be  nursed 
and  reared,  till  he  should  be  old  enough  to  be  educated  as  the 
adopted  son  of  the  Princess,  who  had  discovered  him  in  the 
river ;  his  education  by  the  priests,  who  at  that  period,  as  a 
class,  were  the  most  learned  persons  in  Egypt;  his  subsequent 
abandonment  of  the  court  of  Pharaoh,  and  flight  into  the 
desert,  where  he  passed  forty  years  of  his  life ;  his  selection  as 
leader  of  his  people  in  their  flight  from  Egypt,  and  his  resi- 
dence among  them  for  the  last  forty  years  of  his  life  ;  we  are 
not  surprised  that  so  learned  a  man,  of  such  varied  experi- 
ences, should  have  been  chosen  to  conduct  such  a  people  as 
•raclitc-s  out  of  bondage,  to  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey. 

In  the  temples  of  Egypt,  he  had  doubtless  seen  the  priests 
oftentimes  engaged  in  making. tlioir  idols  out  of  the  slime  of 
the  river  Nile.  IVrhaps  he  himself  may  have  assisted  in  llieir 
manufacture.  He  must  have  had  the  history  of  his  life  im- 
parted to  him,  and  the  oo/.e  of  the  river  on  which  his  cradle 
had  rested  mu-t  have  hem  to  him  a  familiar  ohject.  lie  knew 
the  plastic,  character  of  its  slime,  ho\v  easily  it  could  he  made 
'ime,  any  form.  And  he  \vas  probably  acquainted  with 
the  qualities  of  the  various  materials  composing  it,  viz:  the 
carbonate  of  lime,  from  the  bed  of  the  river,  the  remains  of 
fish  and  reptiles,  replete  with  phosphates,  and  the  vegetable 


109 

matter,  in  almost  every  stage  of  decomposition.  When,  thcr<V 
fore,  it  was  revealed  to  him  by  the  Almighty  that  he  had 
formed  man  out  of  the  slime  of  the  earth,  he  could  readily 
understand  tint  Divine  power  could  fashion  a  man  out  of  such 
materials,  but  the  investing  this  man  of  flesh  made  of  clay 
with  life,  by  simply  breathing  into  his  face,  was  such  a  mani- 
festation of  power  as  must  have  confounded  all  his  reasoning 
faculties. 

Let  us  see  if  we  can  form  any  idea  of  how  this  vitalization 
of  the  first  man  was  effected.  Remember  that  this  is  a  reve- 
lation of  a  physical  fact,  and  in  communicating  it  to  mankind 
through  the  medium  of  Moses,  the  Creator  did  not  mean  to 
make  any  secret  of  it,  but  has  left  it  to  us  to  discover,  if  we 
can,  without  discrediting  the  act,  or  disbelieving  the  revela- 
tion. Let  us  suppose  the  first  man  to  have  been  made  out  of 
the  materials  mentioned.  He  is  complete  in  all  his  organisms; 
they  are  all  prepared  and  ready  to  work  as  soon  as  vitality 
shall  be  imparted  to  them.  This  is  done  by  "  breathing  in  his 
face  the  breath  of  life,"  and  "the  man  becomes  a  living  soul." 
Now,  the  first  inquiry  is,  whatris  the  breath  of  life  ?  Accord- 
ing to  Moses,  light  had  been  created,  the  earth  had  received 
its  form,  the  three  kingdoms,  animal,  vegetable  and  mineral, 
were  defined,  and  their  functions  were  being  performed,  an 
atmosphere  existed,  and  we  may  suppose  that 'it  was  consti- 
tuted to  fulfil  all  the  conditions  which  appertain  to  it  at  the 
present  day.  Its  elements  were  the  same  then  as  now.  Light, 
which  from  the  beginning  had  been  passing  through  interstel- 
lar and  interplanetary  spaces,  with  its  inconceivable  velocity, 
had,  on  entering  the  denser  medium  of  the  atmosphere,  pro- 
duced enormous  friction,  by  which  electricity,  and  subse- 
quently magnetism,  had  been  evolved  to  perform  the  parts 
assigned  to  them  in  the  Divine  economy.  When  Adam,  there- 
fore, was  finished  in  his  structural  condition,  and  the  blood 
lay  in  his  heart  and  lungs,  arteries  and  veins,  without  motion, 
but  ready  for  use,  all  that  was  necessary  was  to  fill  his  lungs 
with  atmospheric  air,  negatively  electrified,  and  life  at  once 
became  established  in  his  system.  This  was  done  by  breath- 
ing in  his  face  the  breath  of  life,  that  is  to  say  atmospheric  air, 
which,  conducted  by  the  nostrils  and  the  mouth  through  the 
windpipe  to  the  lungs,  and  through  the  eyes  and  ears  to  the 
brain,  and  meeting  there  the  blood  oppositely  electrified,  the 
conjunction  of  these  opposite  electricities  produced  heat,  which, 
consuming  the  carbon  of  the  blood  in  the  oxygen  gas  of  the 
Atmospheric  air,  formed  carbonic  acid  gas,  thus  purifying  the 


110 

blood  of  its  carbon,  imparting  to  it  a  boat  of  100°  of  temperature, 
positively  electrified,  and  expelling  from  the  lungs,  through  the 
mouth  and  nostrils,  the  carbonic  acid  gas  which  has  boon  thus 
formed.  The  blood,  after  having  been  thus  purified,  rushed 
into  the  heart,  driven  by  the  positive  electricity  of  the  lungs, 
and  from  the  heart  forced  into  the  arteries,  from  which  it  was 
distributed  to  all  parts  of  the  system  for  its  renovation  and 
support.  This  arterial  blood,  starting  from  the  heart  with  a 
temperature  of  100°  F.,  rolls  in  the  arteries,  producing  friction 
and  evolving  electricity,  supplying  all  the  organs  of  the  body 
with  various  materials  for  their  renovation  and  nutrition,  and 
developing  magnetism,  but  losing  more  heat  than  it  generates, 
so  that  by  the  time  this  arterial  blood  has  passed  through  the 
capillaries,  and  has  entered  the  veins  to  return  to  the  heart,  it  has 
lost  two  degrees  of  temperature,  And  it  returns  to  the  heart  as 
venous  blood,  with  a  temperature  of  98°  F.  This  loss  of  two 
degrees  of  heat  in  traversing  the  body,  changing  the  elec- 
tricity of  the  blood,  by  induction,  from  being  positive  to  being 
:ive;  in  the  heart  it  becomes  again  positive,  and  rushes 
into  the  lungs  to  meet  the  negative  electricity  of  the  atmos- 
pheric air,  where  the  same  process  of  burning  the  carbon  of 
the  blood  in  the  oxygen  gas  of  the  atmospheric  air,  purifying 
the  blood,  driving  it  back  again  into  the  heart  and  thence 

O  O 

through  the  arteries  throughout  the  system  as  before,  and  so 
on  while  life  exists  in  its  normal  condition.  This  is,  probably, 
the  physical  life  of  man,  as  described  in  the  2d  chapter  and  7th 
of  the  book  of  Genesis ;  and  we  find  that  electricity, 
heat,  and  magnetism,  are  essential  elements  of  it,  and  that 
without  them  it  cannot  exist 

Dr.  Ure,  in  his  celebrated  experiment  of  conveying  currents 
of  electricity  along  tbe  spinal  nerves  of  the  recently  executed 

malefactor,  (Mydcsdale,  \vhile  the  body  was  still  warm,  though 

life  was  extinct,  prodm-cd  a  horrible  caricature  of  the  operations 

of  life,,  by  calling  into  violent  contractions  the  muscles  of  the 

All  the  expressions  of    rage,  hatred,  despair  and   horror 

1    upon   the    features,   producing   so   revolting  a 

scene   that   many   spectators    fainted   at    the    sight.     In  like 

manner  muscular  contractions  and   expansions  of  the  limbs, 

imitating  the  movements  of  actual  life,  were  exhibited,  to  the 

astonishment  of  beholders. 

The  ingenious  physicist,  Txittcr,  of  Munich,  in  "Bavaria,  cele- 
brated tor  his  experiments  in  galvanism,  has,  through  them, 
among  other  things,  established  the  fact,  that  a  constant  de- 


Ill 

velopment  of  electricity  accompanies  all  the  phenomena  of 
life.  Now,  as  magnetism  is  developed  by  currents  of  electri- 
city, it  follows,  that  in  moving  the  legs  of  animals  the  expan- 
sion and  contraction  of  their  muscles  produce  friction  and 
evolve  an  electricity  opposed  to  that  which  has  set  them  in 
motion,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  conjunction  of  these  oppo- 
site electricities  also  develops  magnetism,  which  at  once  is 
acted  upon  by  the  superior  magnetism  of  the  earth,  and  hence 
you  have  a  leg  lifted  from  the  earth  and  another  placed  upon 
it,  in  locomotion,  by  the  force  of  magnetism,  and  this  is  re- 
peated and  continued  at  the  will  of  the  animal. 

The  celebrated  naturalist,  Prof.  Louis  Agassi/,  in  his  lectures 
on  Embryology,  stated,  that  the  beginning  of  animal  life  was  in 
an  egg.  Let  us  see  if  we  can  comprehend  its  transmutation  into 
life.  The  sexes  are  oppositely  electrified.  In  the  human  race 
the  females,  from  the  positive  and  persistent  character  of  their 
demands,  may  be  termed  positively  electrified.  The  males, 
from  their  habit  of  negation  or  denial  of  the  wants  of  the 
females,  which  is  of  too  common  occurrence,  may  be  termed 
negatively  electrified.  These  opposing  conditions  create 
sexual  attraction;  when  a  conjunction  of  these  opposite  elec- 
tricities occurs  in  the  act  of  coition,  a  certain  degree  of  heat  is 
developed,  and  magnetism  is  also  evolved— the  egg  disengaged 
from  the  ovarium  is  magnetized  and  positively  electrified,  and 
through  the  Fallopian  tubes,  enlarged  by  the  heat  of  the 
coition,  is  carried  into  the  uterus,  prepared  to  receive  it. 
Thus,  vitalized  by  the  electricity  and  magnetism  that  have 
been  imparted  to  it,  its  own  heat,  and  that  of  the  uterus,  in 
which  it  is  deposited,  continue  to  preserve  the  life  which  has 
thus  been  called  into  being.  Such,  also,  is  the  commence- 
ment of  animal  magnetism. 

Du  Bois  Reymond  states  "that  the  electrical  current  mani- 
fests itself  in  different  directions,  in  the  limbs  of  different 
animals,  and  with  greater  intensity  in  some  animals  than  in 
others.  The  electro-motive  forces  thus  operating  in  the  mus- 
cles depend  upon  the  opposite  electrical  [?  magnetic]  condi- 
tions existing  between  their  longitudinal  and  transverse  sec- 
tions." So,  also,  with,  respect  to  the  nervous  system,  he  states 
that  the  nerves  are  subject,  in  their  sectional  arrangements,  to 
the  same  law  as  the  muscles.  This  must  be  understood,  how 
ever,  with  reference  only  to  the  exercise  of  their  inherent  elec- 
tro-motive forces.  In  transmitting  the  muscular  current  the 
nerves  perform  the  part  of  inactive  conductors.  It  is  not  in 
the  whole,  or  a  large  part  of  a  muscle,  that  an  electrical  cur- 
rent can  alone  be  shown  to  exist,  but  that  every  particle,  the 


112 

merest  shred  or  fragment,  even  what  may  be  considered 
microscopic,  is  equally  obedient  to  electrical  influence.  *  * 
*  *  Every  movement,  look  or  gesture,  every  sensation  of 
pain  or  pleasure,  every  emotion  however  transient,  and  per- 
haps every  thought  unexpressed,  or  word  uttered,  is  most  assur- 
edly accompanied  by  the  disturbance  of  electro-motive  forces. 
These,  however,  are  so  much  more  feeble  than  any  with  which 
we  have  hitherto  become  acquainted,  that  in  the  healthiest  and 
most  active,  during  a  week,  or  perhaps  a  month,  their  cumu- 
lative effects  may  not  bo  equal  to  those  evolved  by  one  smart 
blow  of  the  hand  upon  a  table." 


speculation  has  been  evoked  and  various  experiments 
at  different  times  instituted,  to  discover  and  explain  the  cause 
of  the  uniform  normal  heat  of  the  body  of  a  healthy  adult  per- 
son, but  heretofore  with  unsatisfactory  results.  Now,  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  explanation  is  not  a  difficult  one.  It  will  be 
admitted  that  the  relative  capacity  of  the  lungs  to  furnish  at- 
mospheric air  to  oxidate  the  blood,  and  of  the  heart  to  supply 
the  proper  quantity  of  blood  to  be  so  oxidated  in  the  lungs,  is 
constant  in  a  healthy  adult.  When,  therefore,  the  lungs  are 
filled  to  their  greatest  capacity,  with  blood  and  atmospheric 
air  in  diffusion  through  it,  the  meeting  of  the  negative  elec- 
tricity of  the  air  with  the  positive  electricity  of  the  blood  in 
the  lungs,  develops  heat  and  magnetism,  and  the  oxidated 
blood  becomes  positively  electrified  ;  the  carbon  of  the  blood 
unites  with  a  portion  of  the  oxygen  of  the  air  in  the  lungs, 
and  becomes  carbonic  acid  gas,  also  positively  electrified. 
This  change  also  develops  heat  and  magnetism,  having  been 
produced  by  the  meeting  of  opposite  electricities;  a  portion  of 
the  water  of  the  blood,  separated  from  it  during  these  changes, 
is  taken  up  by  the  carbonic  acid  gas;  and  the  carbonic  acid 
gas  and  the  oxidated  blood,  both  being  positively  electrified, 
n-]M-l  each  other  —  the  blood  back  to  the  heart,  to  be  thence 
distributed  by  the  arteries  through  the  system,  while  the  car- 
bonic acid  gas,  and  the  watery  vapor  it  contains,  are  expired 
from  the  lung.s  through  the  mouth  and  nostrils  into  the  atmos- 
phere. This  repulsion  of  the  carbonic  acid  gas  and  watery 
vapor  from  the  lungs  is  obvious  to  every  one.  For  who  is 
there  that  can  hold  his  breath  even  for  a  single  moment?  A 
greater  power  than  man's  will  forces  them  from  the  lungs,  and 
that  is  the  repellent  power  of  positive  electricity.  The  oxi- 
dated blood  is  driven  into  the  heart  by  this  same  repellent 
force. 

It  is  the  electrical  action,  therefore,  in  the  lungs  of  the  at- 
mospheric air  and  the  blood  intermingled  in  constant  relative 


113 

quantities,  that  produces  the  uniform  temperature,  in  all  lati- 
tudes, of  98°  Fahrenheit  in  a  healthy  adult  person. 

Electricity  is  the  cause  of  the  fluidity  of  the  Mood  in  the 
veins  and  arteries.  Venous  blood  taken  from  the  veins,  and 
left  to  itself  becomes  solid,  and  separates  into  t\vo  distinct 
parts;  the  serum,  or  watery,  being  over  and  upon  the  clot  or 
coagulum.  The  serum  is  chiefly  water,  holding  albumen  in 
solution  and  the  salts  of  the  blood.  The  clot  contains  fibrin 
coloring  matter,  a  little  serum  and  a  small  quantity  of  salts. 
Prick  a  finger  with  a  needle,  a  small  drop  of  blood  exudes. 
It  is  negatively  electrified ;  on  being  exposed  to  the  air  its  nega- 
tive electricity  instantly  unites  with  the  positively  electrified 
air  in  contact  with  the  warm  surface  of  the  finger,  heat  is 
produced  by  their  conjunction,  the  watery  part  of  the  serum 
is  evaporated  by  the  heat  and  the  distributing  electricities; 
and  the  clot  remains  to  cover  the  puncture  made  by  the 
needle,  and  to  protect  the  blood  in  the  vein  from  further 
injury  by  the  action  of  the  air  upon  it.  How  many  lives  have 
been  saved  after  unconsciousness,  from  the  loss  of  blood  in 
wounds,  has  seized  upon  the  sufferer,  by  the  escape  of  the 
serum  of  the  blood  through  evaporation  from  electricity,  and 
the  deposit  of  the  clot  upon  the  lips  of  the  wounds,  closing 
them  and  preventing  the  further  flow  of  the  blood  through 
them,  and  thus  allowing  nature  to  gather  up  its  remaining 
strength,  and  to  restore  the  patient.  How  thankful  we  should 
be  to  the  Creator  for  this  simple,  wise  and  benevolent  provi- 
sion for  our  safety  in  the  occurrence  of  blood-letting  injuries ! 

An  eminent  surgeon  of  my  acquaintance  has  informed  me, 
that,  in  cases  of  death  produced  by  lightning,  the  blood  re- 
mains fluid  in  the  veins  for  several  days  afterwards ;  whereas, 
in  cases  of  death  from  disease,  the  blood  coagulates  soon  after- 
wards. He  has  known  a  case  in  which  the  blood  remained 
fluid  in  the  veins  four  days  and  several  hours  subsequent  to 
the  death  of  the  man  by  lightning.  This  goes  to  show  that  in 
the  absence  of  electricity  from  the  blood,  its  flow  in  the  arte- 
ries and  veins  becomes  retarded,  and  its  coagulation,  or  even 
thickening,  would  suddenly  terminate  the  life  of  an  animal  in 
which  it  had  occurred.  This,  no  doubt,  is  the  cause  of  paralysis 
and  apoplexy.  The  treatment  in  such  cases,  therefore,  should 
be  the  introduction  of  the  opposite  electricity  in  the  veins  and 
arteries  to  restore  the  electrical  equilibrium  and  consequent 
fluidity  of  the  blood. 

I  have  somewhere  met  with  the  following  anecdote  of  the 
late  Emperor  Nicholas  I,  of  Russia,  which,  as  it  is  pertinent  to 
the  present  discussion,  may  be  introduced  here.  It  is  as  follows : 


114 

Some  roars  since  a  very  distinguished,  French  actress,  having 
an  engagement  at  the  Imperial  Theatre  at  St.  Petersburg]!, 
arrived  there  at  the  beginning  of  winter.  Soon  after  her  ar- 
rival, in  company  with  a  gentleman  of  her  party,  she  proceeded 
to  the  grounds  of  the  Winter  Palace  tor  walking  exercise. 
"Winter  had  arrived  and  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow, 
some  of  which  had  recently  fallen.  The  air  was  calm  and  the 
weather  very  cold. 

In  the  course  of  their  walk,  their  attention  was  attracted  by 
the  appearance  of  a  gentleman  of  very  distinguished  mien, 
who  was  also  walking,  lie  was  very  tall  and  remarkably 
handsome,  and  was  approaching  them  rapidly:  very  much  im- 
pressed by  his  appearance  and  manner,  they  were  regarding 
him  very  fixedly,  when  as  he  came  near  to  them  they  saw  him 
take  off  from  his  hand  a  glove,  and  stooping  low  he  grasped  a 
handful  of  the  light  and  newly  fallen  enow.  This  strange 
movement  so  fully  occupied  their  attention,  that  they  were 
almost  unaware  of  his  having  reached  them,  when,  stopping 
before  the  lady,  he  very  abruptly  clapped  his  hand  filled  with 
snow  upon  her  nose,  and  began  to  rub  it  vigorously,  at  the 
same  time  saying  to  her  in  French;  "Madame,  your  nose  is 
frozen!"  Her  attendant,  astounded  by  what  at  first  he  thought 
was  intended  as  a  great  indignity  to  the  lady,  was  about  to  re- 
pent it,  when  he  heard  the  explanation  which  accompanied  it. 
The  Emperor  Nicholas,  for  it  was  he,  began  to  rub  briskly  the 
nose  and  face  of  the  lady  with  his  hand  filled  with  snow,  to  re- 
store, by  friction,  the  proper  circulation  of  the  blood,  and  thus 
prevent  the  great  injury  to  the  lady's  face  which  the  loss  of 
her  nose  would  occasion.  He  spoke  encouragingly  to  her,  and 
calling  an  attendant  he  sent  for  his  surgeon,  and  alter  the  cir- 
culation of  the  blood  in  her  face  was  re-established,  she  was  re- 
turned to  her  apartments,  where  she  received  every  attention, 
by  the  Kmperor's  orders,  and  in  a  little  while  she  was  entirely 
d.  Now,  why  did  the  Emperor  rub  her  nose  and  face 
with  snow;  and  why  did  he  take  off  his  glove  from  his  hand 
to  perform  that  oflice  ? 

It  has  been  long  known,  that  frozen  limbs  can  be  restored 

to  their  normal  condition  of  healthy  vigour  by  the  application 
of  snow  or  pounded  ice  to  the  part  ufi'ect.-d,  when  quickly 
rubbed  with  the  human  band  ;  but  it  is  not  so  well  known  why 
such  an  effect  is  thus  produced.  Let  us  essay  an  explanation 
of  it.  When  a  limb  or  member  is  frozen,  the  circulation  of 
the  blood  in  it  C  nd  the  ble  of  the  limb  or  member  is 

suspended;  and  unless  its  healthy  action  is  speedily  restored, 


115 

the  part  affected  loses  its  vitality,  gangrene  sets  in,  and  ampu- 
tation becomes  necessary.  The  animal  electricity  that  it  con- 
tained has  disappeared.  Xmv,  the  human  hand  has  one  kind 
of  electricity ;  snow  or  ice  1ms  tin4  opposite  kind  of  electricity. 
"When  these  opposing  elect  ricities  are  brought  together  in  con 
tact  by  friction,  as  they  were  in  this  instance,  heat  and  mair- 
netism  were  evolved,  which  heat  warmed  and  expanded  the 
frozen  nose,  and  associated  with  the  magnetism  that  had  been 
developed,  excited  an  electrical  current  in  the  coagulated 
blood  in  the  veins  of  the  nose  and  face,  which  then  began  to 
flow  in  its  natural  course.  When  this  friction  is  thus  con- 
tinued for  a  sufficient  time,  the  health  of  the  limb  or  member 
is  restored.  Now  if  heat  from  combustion  had  been  applied 
in  this  case,  instead  of  heat  from  electricity  evolved  by  fric- 
tion, as  above  described,  it  would  have  resulted  in  the  morti- 
fication and  loss  of  the  lady's  nose. 

It  has  been    abundantly  shown,  by  experiments  made  by 
distinguished  scientists,  that,  under  the  influence  of  weak  cur- 
rents of  electricity,  salts  can  be  resolved  into  their  component 
elements.     In  this  way  a  compound  can  be  separated  into  its 
constituent  acid  and  base.    It  has  also  been  shown,  by  Becquerel, 
that  if  an  acid  and  alkaline  solution  be   so  placed  that  their 
union  is  effected  through  the  parietes  of  an  animal  membrane, 
or,  indeed,  of  any  other  porous  diaphragm,  a  current  of  elec- 
tricity is  evolved.     This  has  been  found  to  be  true  with  all 
acids  and  soluble  bases.     Now,  Dr.  Golding  Bird  asserts,  that 
"  with  the  exception  of  the  stomach  and  coscum,  the  whole 
extent  of  the  mucous  membrane,  is  bathed  with  an  alkaline 
mucous  fluid,  and  the  external  covering  of  the  body  is  as  con- 
stantly exhaling   an    acid   fluid,  except   in  the  axillary   and 
pubic  regions.     The  mass  of  the  animal  frame  is  thus  placed 
between  two  great  envelopes,  the  one  alkaline  and  the  other 
acid,  meeting  only  at  the  mouth,  nostrils  and  anus.     Donne, 
has   shown   that  this  arrangement  is  quite  competent  to  the 
evolution  of  electricity. 

"  The  blood  in  a  healthy  state,  exerts  a  well  marked  alkaline 
action  on  test  paper — but  a  piece  of  muscular  flesh  containing 
a  large  proportion  of  alkaline  blood,  when  it  is  cut  into 
Bmall  pieces  and  digested  in  water,  the  infusion  thus  ob- 
tained is  actually  acid  to  litmus  paper.  This  curious  circum- 
stance is  explained  by  the  fact  announced  by  Liebig,  that, 
although  the  blood  in  the  vessels  of  the  muscle  is  alkaline 
from  the  tribnsic  phosphate  of  soda,  yet  the  proper  fluids  or 
secretions  of  the  tissues  exterior  to  the  capillaries  are  acid 


116 

from  the  presence  of  free  phosphoric  and  lactic  acids.  Thus 
in  every  mass  of  muscle,  we  have  myriads  of  electric  currents, 
arising  from  the  mutual  reaction  of  an  acid  fluid  exterior  to 
the  vessels  or  their  alkaline  contents.  It  is  thus  very  remark- 
able, that  a  muscle  should  be  an  electrogenic  apparatus,  and 
that  we  should  have  two  sources  of  the  electricity  of  the 
muscles — the  effects  of  metamorphoses  of  effete  fibres  on  the 
one  hand,  and  on  the  other  the  mutual  reaction  of  two  fluids 
in  different  chemical  conditions.  The  agency  of  a  muscle 
ingenerating  electricity  can  no  longer  be  denied. 

"  In  the  course  of  twenty-four  hours  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  watery  vapour  exhales  from  the  surface  of  the  body. 
This  has  been  differently  estimated,  and  is  liable  to  great  va- 
riations— but  from  30  to  48  ounces  of  water  may  thus  be  got 
rid  of  from  the  system.  The  evaporation  of  this  amount  of 
fluid  is  sufficient  to  disturb  the  electric  equilibrium  of  the 
body,  and  to  evolve  electricity  of  much  higher  tension  than 
that  set  free  by  chemical  action.  This  evaporation  may  proba- 
bly account  for  the  traces  of  free  electricity  generally  to  be  de- 
tected in  the  body,  by  merely  insulating  a  person  and  placing 
him  in  contact  with  a  condensing  electrometer.  Pfaff  and 
Ahrens  generally  found  the  electricity  of  the  body  thus  ex- 
amined to  be  positive,  especially  when  the  circulation  had 
been  excited  by  partaking  of  alcoholic  stimulants.  Ilcmmer, 
another  observer,  found  that  in  2422  experiments  on  himself, 
his  body  was  positively  electric  in  1252,  negative  in  771,  and 
neutral  in  399.  The  causes  of  the  variations  in  the  character 
of  the  electric  conditions  of  the  body,  admit  of  ready  ex- 
planations in  the  varying  composition  of  the  perspired  fluid. 
For  it' it  contains,  as  it  generally  does,  some  free  acid,  it,  by 
its  evaporation,  would  leave  the  body  positively  electric; 
whilst  it'  it  merely  contains  neutral  salt,  it  would  induce  an 
opposite  condition.  The  accuracy  of  these  statements  can  bo 
easily  verified  by  means  of  the  electrometer." 

"  It  is  an  established  fact  that,  independently  of  combustion, 
chemical  action  or  evaporation,  the  mero  contact  of  heteroge- 
neous organic  matters  ia  competent  to  disturb  electric  equi- 
librium." 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  influence  of  electricity  as  an  agent 
in  exciting  the  function  of  digestion,  it  is  now  pretty  distinctly 
made  out  that  the  function  of  digestion  in  the  stomach  is  an 
action  allied  to  simple  solution,  of  which  water — a  proper 
temperature,  [always  associated  with  electricity] — and  a  free 
acid,  the  hydrochloric,  phosphoric,  or  both,  are  the  active 


117 

agents.  "We  possess  sufficient  evidence  to  induce  us  to  regard 
a  current  of  electricity  as  the  means  by  which  the  saline  con- 
stituents of  the  food  are  decomposed,  and  their  constituent 
acids,  the  real  agents  in  digestion,  set  free  in  the  stomach,  the 
soda  of  the  decomposed  salts  being  conveyed  to  the  liver  to 
aid  the  metamorphosis  and  depuration  of  the  portal  blood,  and 
cause  the  separation  of  matter  rich  in  carbon  in  the  form  of  a 
saline  combination  in  the  bile.  It  also  appears,  from  various 
experiments,  that  in  all  cases  the  secreted  matters  are  always 
in  an  opposite  electric  condition  from  that  of  the  blood  from 
which  they  were  generated." 

Chemical  action  is  merely  a  synonym  for  electrical  action, 
hence  in  all  the  functions  of  the  animal  body  from  its  birth 
till  its  dissolution,  we  may  observe  the  influence  of  electrical 
currents,  the  development  of  magnetism  by  the  conjunction  of 
them,  oppositely  electrified,  and  the  production  of  heat.  In 
the  first  inspiration  of  atmospheric  air  into  the  lungs  where 
it  encounters  the  blood  oppositely  electrified,  heat  and 
magnetism  are  evolved,  and  the  purified  blood  has  one  elec- 
tricity which  repels  itself  into  the  heart,  and  thence  by  the 
arteries  through  the  system.  When  it  reaches  the  capillaries 
it  has  lost  more  than  two  degrees  of  its  temperature,  and  being 
forced  through  the  capillaries  into  the  veins  as  well  by  the 
repulsion  of  the  electricity  of  the  arterial  blood,  as  attracted  by 
the  opposite  electricity  of  the  veins  and  the  blood  they  contain, 
the  temperature  is  increased  till  it  reaches  98°  of  Fahrenheit, 
which  it  carries  with  it  to  the  heart. 

Muscular  exercise  actively  employed  by  the  contraction  and 
expansion  of  the  muscles,  and  by  their  friction  among  them- 
selves, develops  large  quantities  of  electricity,  which  requires 
a  corresponding  quantity  of  the  opposite  electricity  of  the  air 
to  neutralize  it,  hence  the  inspiration  of  atmospheric  air  into 
the  lungs  becomes  more  rapid  in  proportion  to  the  activity  of 
the  exercise,  great  heat  is  developed  in  the  body  by  the  con- 
junction of  these  opposite  electricities,  which  expanding  all 
the  tissues  of  the  body,  liberates  the  water  contained  in  them 
and  in  the  viscera  by  exos  mosis,  which  then  exudes  through 
the  pores  of  the  skin,  as  perspiration,  carrying  off  the  surplus 
electricity  that  has  heen  produced  by  the  violence  of  the  exer- 
cise, and  relieving  the  body  from  the  further  inconvenience  of 
its  increased  heat.  This  perspiration  is  acid  in  some  parts  of 
the  body  and  alkaline  in  other  parts,  and  furnishes  the  most 
immediate  means  of  getting  rid  of  the  excessive  free  currents 
of  electricity  of  the  body  at  all  times. 


118 

During  an  attack  of  fever,  while  the  patient  is  suffering 
from  the  great  interior  heat  of  his  body  from  disturbed  elec- 
trical action,  why  does  ho  continually  ask  for  cold  water?  It 
is  because  the  cold  water,  oppositely  electrified  to  the  over- 
heated organs  and  viscera  of  his  body,  is  demanded  by  the 
instinct  of  his  nature,  which  requires  it,  so  that  the  incr< 
heat  developed  by  the  conjunction  of  these  opposite  electrici- 
ties may  still  more  expand  the  tissues  and  viscera  and  liberate 
the  water  therefrom  which,  mixed  with  the  water  drank, 
would  carry  off  in  perspiration  the  excess  of  electricity  and 
re  the  body  to  its  normal  condition.  For  this  reason, 
cold  water  in  large  quantities  should  always  be  prescribed  in 
cases  of  fever,  to  carry  oil'  the  surplus  electricity,  by  the 
perspiration  it  induces,  as  well  as  to  supply  the  material  for 
the  very  perspiration  that  it  is  intended  it  should  produce. 
Warm  saline  or  acid  baths,  by  expanding  the  pores  of  the 
skin,  and  thus  promoting  perspiration,  are  natural  remedies 
in  cases  of  fever  or  of  violent  inflammation.  Perspiration, 
therefore,  alkaline  or  acid,  is  the  remedy  for  excessive  elec- 
trization— and  just  as  the  perspiration  is  either  alkaline  or 
acid,  in  those  places  of  the  body  where  in  its  natural  state  it 
should  be  the  reverse,  ought  the  physician  to  be  able  to  diag- 
nose the  causes  of  this  abnormal  condition,  and  to  restore  the 
electrical  equilibrium  in  the  system. 

The  sexes  are  oppositely  electrified — hence  their  mutual  at- 
traction for  each  other.  Now  give  them  the  same  electricities, 
and  mutual  repulsion  immediately  results.  Let  us  ponder 
awhile  on  this  subject.  Every  one  must  have  observed  in  the 
press  of  this  country,  almost  daily,  and  in  every  part  of  it, 
accounts  of  the  most  outrageous,  cruel,  and  in  some  cases  of 
diabolical  attacks  of  men  upon  women,  and  occasionally  of 
women  upon  men,  generally  when  they  bore  toward  each 
other  the  relation  of  husband  and  wile.  When  they  have  been 
iirst  acquainted  with  each  other,  their  electricities  being  oppo- 
site, they  were  mutually  attracted  to  each  other,  their  acqiiaint- 
grew  into  esteem,  and  ripened  into  affection  and  love, 
and  they  became  man  and  wife,.  The  animal  system  develops 
electricity,  magnetism  and  heat  in  its  functional  actions — the 
kind  of  electricity  and  magnetism  art;  dependent  upon  the 
habits  of  life,  the  diet,  the  occupation  and  association  oft  he  indi 
vidual.  When  these  are  similar  similar  electric  and  magnetic 
conditions  of  the  body  will  result.  It  has  been  shown  that  the 
;ive  or  masculine  electricity  of  the  man  H  reversed,  and 
p<  sitive  like  that  of  the  woman  under  the  excitement 
of  alcoholic  stimulants — in  other  words,  for  the  time  being, 


119 

the  man  becomes  a  woman,  and  is  converted  into  the  only 
thing  which  the  British  Parliament,  in  all  its  great  potentiality, 
could  not  do,  viz:  make  a  man  a  woman,  or  a  woman  a  man. 
This,  alcoholic  stimulants  have  always  done,  and  are  now  doing 
every  day.  'When  this  change  in  the  condition  of  his  electricity 
had  occurred,  his  attributes  become  feminine;  he  is  irritable, 
irrational,  excitable  by  trivialities,  and  when  opposed  in  his 
opinions  or  conduct,  becomes  violent  and  outrageous,  and  if, 
in  this  mood,  he  meets  his  wife,  whose  normal  condition  of 
electricity  is  like  his  present  condition,  positive,  they  repel 
each  other,  become  mutually  abusive,  engage  in  conflict  and 
deadly  strife,  and  the  newspaper  of  the  next  day  announces  the 
verdict  of  the  coroner's  jury  on  the  case  How  many  such  in- 
cidents are  occurring  daily  in  almost  every  part  of  our  extended 
country  ;  and  who  would  expect  to  find  the  discovery  of  the 
moving  cause  of  all  these  terrible  crimes  in  the  perspiration  of 
the  criminal?  and  yet  science  has  shown  that  the  metamor- 
phosis of  a  man  into  a  woman  by  changing  the  negative  con- 
dition of  his  electricity  into  the  positive  electricity  of  the 
woman,  with  all  its  attributes,  is  disclosed  by  the  character  of 
his  perspiration,  superinduced  by  the  use  of  alcoholic  stimu- 
lants !  It  is  a  very  curious  thing  to  note,  that  among  the  Per- 
sians, one  of  the  most  ancient  of  peoples,  the  ordinary  saluta- 
tion on  the  meeting  of  friends,  is,  not  as  among  the  English, 
"  How  do  you  do  ? "  as  if  your  life  was  one  of  incessant  labor, 
or  as  among  the  French,  "  Comment  vous  portez-vous  ?"  "  How 
do  you  carry  yourself  ? "  as  if  it  wras  a  great  exertion  to  move 
at  all — but  "  How  do  you  perspire  ?  "  In  the  lapse  of  ages,  a 
vast  deal  of  knowledge  useful  to  a  people,  is  necessarily  ac- 
quired by  their  experience,  personal  as  well  as  national.  In 
the  hot  and  arid  climate  of  Persia,  the  people  suffer,  and  have 
always  suffered,  greatly  from  fevers,  eruptive  diseases  of  the 
skin,*  as  well  as  from  those  of  a  dysenteric  and  choleraic  char- 
acter. Their  experience  has  taught  them,  in  their  diseases, 
that  the  first  relief  from  suffering  that  they  felt,  was  ii^  the  re- 
turn of  their  perspiration  to  their  skin,  and  as  lop^  as  that 
perspiration  could  be  maintained,  just  so  long  was  tneir  relief 
continued — hence  they  came  to  regard  it  as  synonymous  with 
a  state  of  good  health,  and  the  salutation  among  friends  on 
meeting  was  introduced  and  became  common  among  the 
people.  - 

Let  no  woman,  hereafter,  delude  herself  with  the  idea  that 
she  can  reform  a  man  addicted  to  the  use  of  alcoholic  stimu- 
lants by  marriage.  Should  she  attempt  it,  she  will  fall  a 
victim  to  the  delusion,  as  many  of  her  sex  have  done  before 


120 

her,  as  she  will  find  that  her  will  is  controlled  by  her  normal 
positive  electricity,  which  is  of  the  same  character  as  that  of  the 
man,  her  husband,  and  that,  in  spite  of  herself,  the  two  will  be 
mutually  repellent,  and  their  association  as  man  and  wife  will 
be  unhappy  in  the  extreme. 

Observe  a  drunken  man  with  a  male  companion  who  is 
sober;  their  electricities  are  opposite  ;  how  loving  the  drunken 
man  is  to  his  friend;  he  caresses  him;  locks  his  arm  in  that 
of  his  companion ;  hugs  him ;  in  France  he  would  kiss  him  ; 
prattle  to  him  with  the  simplicity  of  a  child ;  talks  nonsense 
with  the  incoherence  of  delirium ;  and  is  as  good  humored 
and  amiable  as  possible.  His  wife  appears  on  the  scene ;  his 
manner  changes  instantly;  she  tells  him  he  is  wanted  at  home, 
and  asks  him  to  accompany  her  there  ;  he  replies,  "you  go  to 
.  don't  you  see  I  am  with  George,"  naming  his  companion. 
The  wife  urges  him  to  go  home,  and  not  expose  himself  in  the 
public  streets  in  his  condition.  He  is  exasperated;  their  re- 
pellent electricities  are  in  action;  they  become  angry;  vio- 
lence probably  ensues,  and  the  police  interfere.  Let  no  woman 
ever  venture  to  remonstrate  with  a  drunken  man  ;  her  own 
electrical  condition  forbids  it ;  such  remonstrance  irritates  the 
man,  develops  his  anger,  and  leads  to  violence  ;  and  when  it 
is  remembered  that  women  are  particularly  the  objects  of  brutal 
attack  by  drunken  men,  as  is  made  manifest  by  the  publication 
in  the  daily  press  of  the  country,  of  crimes  that  have  been 
committed,  it  is  obvious  that  their  safety  will  be  promoted  by 
their  silence. 

The  remarkable  variations  in  his  own  electrical   condition, 
reported  by  the  observer,  Ilemmer,  as  deduced  from  his  experi- 
ments upon  his  own  body,  go  to  show  that  every  incident    in 
human  life  might  be  traced  to  its  electrical  condition;  all  the 
>ns  are  excited  by  it,  and  are  subdued  by  its  reversal ;  all 
the  emotions  are  necessary  consequences  of  it,  and  it  is  not 
probahly  going  too  far  to  say  that  the  intellectuality  of  man  is 
sly  due  to  his  electricity  and  magnetism. 

\Yc  have  thus  shown  that  from  the  impregnation  of  the  ovum 
of  the  warm-blooded  animal,  through  its  whole,  existence,  elec- 
tricity, inagneiism,  and  heat,  are  the  essential  elements  of  its 
vitality:  and  that  starting  from  the  first  man,  Adam,  it  was 
not  until  the  Creator  had  "breathed  into  his  face  tin-  Im-atli 
of  life,"  or,  as  we  interpret  it,  had  hrought  together  the  atmos- 
pheric air  and  the  blood  in  his  lungs,  oppositely  electrified, 
by  breathing  that  atmospheric  air  into  his  face,  t  rough  hia 
mouth,  nostrils,  and  eyes,  and  thus  bringing  it  into  contact 


121 

with  the  oppositely  electrified  blood,  that  life  in  Adam  was 
established,  and  the  law  of  life  made  universal  for  all  his 
descendants. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  the  marvelous  provisions  made  by 
the  Creator  to  relieve  the  human  animal  from  the  excess  of 
electrical  action  in  his  system  from  whatever  cause.  The  brain 
being  the  most  important  of  the  organs,  and  contained  in  a 
bony  structure  called  the  cranium,  or  skull,  composed  of  several 
parts  united  by  serrated  edges,  and  subject  to  a  certain  degree 
of  mobility  at  those  edges,  to  protect  the  skull  from  fracture 
by  trivial,  accidental  blows,  or  pressure,  is  the  first  organ  to  be 
relieved  from  increased  heat  in  the  blood  which  circulates 
there.  Perspiration  first  breaks  out  on  the  forehead,  near  the 
temples;  then  at  the  uppermost  suture,  or  serrated  edge,  on 
the  top  of  the  skull ;  then  along  the  temples  ;  then  behind  the 
ears,  to  relieve  the  cerebellum  and  the  organs  of  hearing;  then 
above  and  below  the  eyes,  for  the  relief  of  those  organs;  then 
along  the  nose  and  corners  of  the  mouth ;  then  under  the  jaws, 
to  relieve  the  glands  of  the  mouth  and  throat ;  the  thorax,  or 
chest,  where  the  greatest  activity  of  the  circulation  of  the 
blood  occurs,  is  relieved  by  the  perspiration  in  the  armpits, 
under  the  shoulders ;  while  the  abdominal  region  is  protected 
by  its  exudation  in  the  loins  and  groins,  and  the  pelvis  and 
hips  have  their  guardian  in  the  pubic  region ;  the  upper  leg  in 
the  angle  behind  the  knee,  when  it  is  bent ;  the  lower  leg  and 
foot  find  their  security  in  the  perspiration  that  exudes  between 
the  toes,  as  the  lower  arm  and  hand  are  protected  by  it,  as  it 
escapes  between  the  fingers  and  in  the  palm  of  the  hand — all 
these  salutary  provisions  are  independent  of  the  will  of  the 
individual,  and  are  so  many  safety  valves  for  his  preservation 
from  injury,  in  too  many  cases,  from  his  own  imprudence  and 
folly. 

It  is  to  the  female  of  every  species  that  the  Creator  has 
confided  the  care  and  perservation  of  the  young  animal,  as 
well  as  the  continuance  of  the  species  to  which  she  may  be- 
long. We  all  know  how  powerful  is  the  emotion  of  maternal 
instinct ;  it  needs  no  illustration. 

Among  all  animals  but  man  the  season  of  reproduction  is 
dependent  upon  climatic  influences — upon  the  temperature  of 
the  season,  when  the  young  animal  is  to  be  ushered  into  life, 
and  on  the  products  of  the  earth  necessary  for  the  mother 
during  the  period  of  its  dependence  upon  her  for  sustenance 
us  well  as  for  its  own  support  afterwards. 

We  will  illustrate  by  a  common  example.     We  will  suppose 


122 

that  the  season  for  reproduction  with  the  domestic  cow  has 
arrived;  she  is  at  pasture,  and  unconscious  of  the  change  in 
her  condition  which  is  about  to  happen.  Suddenly,  there 
begins  to  he  given  out  from  her  body  a  strong  effluvium — it 
surrounds  her  and  accompanies  her  in  every  movement.  It 
fills  the  atmosphere  near  her — wafted  by  the  wind  it  is  carried 
to  a  great  distance.  A  mile  or  more  to  the  leeward  of  the 
cow,  a  bull  is  feeding  among  a  hundred  cows,  in  the  pasture 
field:  grazing  quietly  he  is  observed  to  turn  his  head  towards 
the  direction  from  which  the  wind  is  coming.  It  marks  the 
first  approach  of  the  effluvium;  he  turns  quickly  around 
towards  the  wind,  raises  his  head  high  above  his  body  and 
draws  a  long  inspiration  of  air.  He  recognizes  the  fragrance. 
It  is  to  him  an  invitation.  lie  sets  out  in  a  rapid  walk  in  the 
direction  from  which  the  wind  is  coming;  then  he  quickens 
his  pace  into  a  fast  trot,  and,  as  the  welcome  perfume  increases 
in  strength,  he  breaks  into  a  gallop,  and  then  into  a  full 
run.  A  fence,  a  barrier,  intervenes  ;  raising  himself  on  his 
hind  heels  he  throws  his  forehand  on  the  fence-  and  breaks  it 
to  the  ground.  lienewing  his  speed  he  arrives  in  the  field  in 
which  the  cow  is  quietly  graxing — among  a  thousand  cows. 
lie  follows  the  fragrance  directly  to  the  object  of  his  visit. 
Now,  what  does  this  haste  mean?  "Why  does  he  leave  his  own 
pasture,  a  mile  or  more  away,  to  rush  with  such  speed  to 
other  fields?  Because  a  new  life  is  to  be  developed,  and  the 
indispensable  elements  of  it  are  heat,  electricity  and  mag- 
netism. The  exercise  of  his  muscles  in  running  has  prod 
friction,  friction  has  developed  electricity,  positive,  which  de- 
mands negative  electricity  from  increased  inspiration  of  the 
atmosphere.  His  imagination  has  been  excited  by  the  pun- 
gency <>f  the  grateful  aroma  he  has  breathed.  lie  arriv> 

>w,  draws  a  long  inspiration,  licks  heron   the   neck  with 

••uirh  tongue,  and  upon  her  loins,  and  makes  an   effort,  as 
Jnp'r  1  to  have  done  to  Kuropa.  after  crossing  the  Bos- 

phorus.  The  cow  recedes  from  him.  and  he  is  disappointed — 
she  is  not  ready.  Again  and  again  he  proffers  his  devotion — 
still  rejected.  The  cow,  in  the  meantime,  recedes  from  him  a 
few  ;  d  begins  again  to  graze.  Kvery  moment,  liow- 

.  her  maturity  of  passion   is  approaching,  the  circulation 
of  her  blood   iic  ''miniated    by  his    proximity  and   the 

odour  given  out.  from  his  body.  Eteat  and  electricity  in  her 
body  are  developed  by  a  quickened  circulation,  and  when  the 
instinct  of  her  nature  has  been  fully  aroused  she  communi- 
cates to  him,  in  a  mysterious  way,  her  readiness  to  receive,  in 


the  language  of  tin-  Latin  po<-i,  "  '"»rum  ruentcm  in  Venrr 
the  elements  of  life  are  there,  electricity,  magnetism  and  }i<-at, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  period  of  gestation,  a  new  life  is  added 
to  the  herd. 

Among  birds  and  poultry,  the  requisites  for  reproduction 
are  similar.  In  the  poultry  yard  observe  the  gallant  cock. 
Scratching  on  the  ground  he  finds  a  grain  of  corn,  or  perchance 
an  insect;  he  gives  a  chuckle  and  one  of  his  hens  approaches 
to  receive  it.  She  picks  it  up,  and  comprehending  the 
generous  motive  of  the  gallant  bird,  she  starts  off  in  a  run  to 
enjoy  the  gift.  The  cock  pursues,  and  after  a  sharp  and 
quick  race,  in  which  friction,  electricity,  heat  and  magnetism 
are  developed  in  each  of  them,  she  suddenly  stops,  an  embrace 
follows,  and  an  egg  is  impregnated,  which  in  due  time  is 
hatched  into  a  chicken. 

Sometimes,  the  cock  pretending  to  have  found  some  choice 
morsel  when  in  fact  he  has  not,  calls  a  hen,  who  on  approach- 
ing him  discovers  the  cheat  and  starts  from  him  on  a  run,  to 
be  pursued  by  him  as  before,  and  with  precisely  a  similar 
result  to  the  last  mentioned.  So  that  to  be  a  gay  deceiver  of 
the  female  is  not  confined  to  base  man. 

In  the  reproduction  of  all  the  varieties  of  animal  life,  from 
the  enormous  whale  to  the  firefly,  which  in  the  language  of 
Tom  Moore,  "  lights  her  mate  to  her  cell,"  and  from  it  to  the 
tiniest  insect,  the  like  conduct  prevails,  viz:  the  exercise  of  the 
muscles  producing  friction,  and  evolving  electricity,  magnetism 
and  heat,  to  vitalize  the  ovum  in  its  impregnation. 

The  whale  requires  three-quarters  of  an  hour  to  be  passed 
in  sportive  dalliance  around  his  mate,  before  a  sufficient 
degree  of  electricity,  magnetism  and  heat  can  be  attained  to 
impregnate  the  ovum  of  the  female. 

I  have  been  credibly  informed  by  a  very  intelligent  man, 
who  was  for  many  years  engaged  in  the  whale  fishery  in  the 
Southern  Pacific  ocean  and  Australian  seas,  that  while  cruis- 
ing for  whales  off  the  coast  of  Australia  the  boats  of  his  ship 
pursued  and  captured  a  large  sperm  whale  that  made  90  bar- 
rels of  oil.  That  when  first  struck  with  the  harpoou  he  went 
down  with  great  velocity,  carrying  with  him  an  immense 
length  of  line,  and  that  before  he  arose  again  to  the  surface 
"  to  blow  "  one  hour  and  twenty-three  minutes  by  the  ship's  chro- 
nometer had  elapsed,  which  fact  proves  that  it  is  not  necessary 


124 

for  a  whale  to  come  to  the  surface  of  the  water  at  short 
intervals  of  time  to  breathe,  as  naturalists  suppose,  as 
from  the  lapse  of  time  mentioned  while  he  was  under 
the  water  he  evidently  had  supplied  himself  with  atmos- 
pheric air  for  breathing  purposes  from  the  water,  as  it  was 
impossible  that  any  pair  of  lungs  could  have  inhaled  and  re- 
tained sufficient  air  before  he  went  down  to  sustain  him  for 
BO  long  a  time  under  water.  The  true  explanation  probably 
is,  that  the  whale  came  to  the  surface  to  blow  oft',  with  his  car- 
bonic acid  gas  and  watery  vapour  from  his  lungs,  the 
surplus  electricity  that  had  been  evolved  in  his  system  by  the 
immense  muscular  action  he  had  displayed  in  his  descent 
from,  and  subsequent  ascent  to  the  surface,  as  by  no  other 
method  could  he  have  gotten  rid  of  it. 

Among  terrestrial  animals  nothing  is  more  common  during 
the  heats  of  summer,  when  so  much  electricity  is  evolved 
within  them  by  their  inspiration  of  air,  the  circulation  of  their 
blood,  their  digestion,  secretions  and  muscular  action,  than  to 
see  them  in  herds  standing  in  water  up  to  or  above  their 
knees  to  relieve  themselves  of  their  surplus  electricity  by  the 
conducting  power  of  the  water  and  thus  to  cool  their  bodies 
whose  heat  must  ascend  into  the  air,  and  could  not  be  con- 
ducted to  the  earth  while  their  electricity  could,  by  the  water 
in  which  they  stood,  be  rapidly  conducted  from  their  bodies 
to  the  earth. 

Such  is  likewise  the  cause  of  the  habit  of  wallowing  in 
muddy  water  of  all  the  pachyderrnata,  from  the  mammoth 
through  the  elephant,  rhinoceros,  down  to  the  common  pig. 

All  fatty  or  oleaginous  substances  being  anti-f fictional,  as  is 
illustrated  in  every  day  life  in  the  axles  of  our  vehicles  and  in 
machinery  having  any  rotating  :issociations,  prevent  the  evolu- 
tion of  electricity,  and  consequently  of  heat.  Ilencc  some 
extraordinary  facts  appear  in  the  animal  economy.  It  is 
known  that  the  whale,  one  of  the  varieties  of  the  cet:: 

HILT  from  its  teat -5,  which  are  external  on,its  body. 
1,  l»y  naturalists,  with  the  mammalia,   to 

\\hich  the  huma!  jjs.      The  whale  inspires  atmos- 

pheric air,  when  floating  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  also 
it  from  the.  water  itself  when  swimming  beneath  its 
surface.  The  whales,  are  warm  blooded,  and  the  conjunction 
of  1h<-  negative  elect ri'-ity  of  the  atmospheric  air  they  have 
inspired,  with  the  positive  electricity  of  their  blood,  produces 
heat.  This  heat  and  the  accompanying  electricity,  which  is 


125 

derived  from  the  friction  of  their  blood  in  circulation,  and  of 
their  muscles  in  exercise  while  in  motion,  would  all  be  rapidly 
conducted  from  their  bodies  by  the  water  of  a  lower  tempera- 
ture, in  which  it  moves  and  lives,  but  for  the  great  thickness 
of  the  blubber  or  fat  which  encompasses  them  respectively, 
and  the  immense  quantity  of  oil  contained  in  their  skulls,  that 
are  non-conductors  of  electricity,  and  serve  to  insulate  it  as  it 
is  evolved.  How  then,  in  the  rapid  passage  of  a  whale 
through  the  water,  is  the  enormous  quantity  of  electricity 
evolved  by  the  friction  of  its  organs,  muscles  and  blood,  in 
their  respective  motions,  to  be  got  rid  of  since  it  cannot  escape 
from  its  body  on  account  of  the  non-conducting  power  of  the 
robe  of  blubber  which  encloses  it  ?  The  whale,  in  breathing, 
takes  in  a  large  quantity  of  water  containing  atmospheric  air, 
which  air,  having  one  electricity,  is  received  into  its  respira- 
tory system,  where  it  meets  with  the  blood  oppositely  electri- 
fied. This  blood  it  oxygenates,  and  by  the  positive  electricity 
of  its  lungs  and  heart,  this  blood,  similarly  electrified,  is 
driven  through  the  arteries,  to  carry  to  every  organ  of  its  body 
its  renovating  and  vitalizing  material.  Changing  the  character 
of  its  electricity  by  induction  as  it  passes  into  the  veins, 
through  the  capillaries,  it  is  taken  back  to  the  heart  and 
thence  to  the  lungs  by  the  attraction  of  the  positive  electricity 
of  those  organs,  to  maintain  the  life  of  the  animal,  and  this 
process  is  continued  during  its  existence,  Now  the  air  which 
the  whale  has  inspired,  whether  from  the  atmosphere  directly, 
or  by  abstraction  from  the  water  in  which  he  lives,  after  it 
has  been  used  to  oxidate  his  blood,  is  to  be  gotten  rid  of. 
But  how  ?  This  air  being  warm  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  asso- 
ciated with  watery  vapour  produced  by  the  heat  of  opposite 
electricities  in  converting  the  carbon  of  the  blood  into  car- 
bonic acid  gas  during  the  act  of  breathing,  is  positively  elec- 
trified, and  is  repelled  from  the  lungs  by  their  positive  elec- 
tricity, into  the  atmosphere  negatively  electrified,  through  its 
blow  holes  or  spiracles,  and  thus  the  act  of  breathing  among 
animals  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  action  of  electricities 
in  their  opposite  condition  of  attraction  and  repulsion,  when 
associated  with  inspired  and  expired  atmospheric  air. 

Professor  Matteucci  has  incontestably  proved,  "  that  currents 
of  electricity  are  always  circulating  in  the  animal  frame,  and 
are  not  limited  merely  to  cold  blooded  reptiles,  but  are 
common  to  fishes,  birds  and  mammalia."  He  has  shown  that  a 
"  current  of  positive  electricity  is  always  circulating  from  the 
interior  to  the  exterior  of  a  muscle,  and  that  muscular  con- 


126 

tractions  are  developed  in  the  animal  machine  by  a  fluid  which 
is  conducted  from  the  brain  to  the  muscles." 

The  contraction  of  a  muscle  is  produced  by  an  electric  cur- 
rent of  one  kind.  The  extension  of  it  is  occasioned  by 
another  current  of  opposite  electricity.  These  alternate  forces, 
applied  to  the  muscles  of  an  animal,  keep  tin-in  in  healthy 
exercise,  and  occasion  all  their  movements,  whether  voluntary 
as  directed  by  the  will,  or  involuntary  as  independent  of  it. 
When  a  person,  therefore,  is  immersed  in  water,  particularly 
in  sea  water,  he  is  apt  to  be  drowned ;  for  the  positive  elec- 
tricity which  flows  from  the  interior  to  the  exterior  of  his 
muscles,  extending  them,  is  carried  off  rapidly  by  the  negative 
electricity  of  the  water  in  which  he  is  immersed,  leaving  the 
negative  electricity  flowing  from  the  brain  to  the  muscles,  to 
contract  them  in  cramps,  which  he  is  not  able  to  overcome,  as 
he  has  lost  the  power  to  extend  his  limbs  by  the  escape  of  his 
positive  electricity  into  the  water.  This  is  the  cause  of  the 
frequent  drowning  of  persons ;  even  the  best  swimmers  are 
sometimes  drowned  from  this  cause.  The  Creator  has  pro- 
vided a  remedy  against  this  loss  of  positive  electricity  in 
aquatic  birds;  covered  with  down  and  outside  feathers,  they 
secrete  a  certain  oily  matter  with  which  these  birds,  punc- 
turing with  their  bills  the  vesicles  containing  it  on  the  surface 
of  their  bodies,  and  filling  their  bills  with  it,  anoint  their 
feathers,  rendering  them  impenetrable  by  the  water  in  which 
they  swim,  and  thus  they  retain  not  only  their  electricities 
but  also  the  necessary  temperature  of  their  bodies  which  the 
union  of  these  electricities  in  their  bodies  develops.  The 
w- iinen  of  the  South  Sea  Islands,  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  having 
taken  the  hint  from  these  birds,  without  comprehending  its 

n,  when  they  go  to  swim  anoint  their  bodies  with  palm 
•oanut  oil,  and  boldly  plunge  into  the  sea,  swimming  a 

:>eyond  the  breakers  which  surround  their  island  homes, 
and  taking  with  them  a  piece  of  board,  stillicient  to  bear  their 

:t,   on    which    they    mount,    and    then    standing    on    the 

I  on  one  foot,  balancing  their  bodies  upon  it,   they  allow 
the  immense  rollers  from  the  ocean  to  bear  them  with  great 
rapidity  to  the  breakers,  where  thrown  from  their  boards  by 
the  violence  of  their  motion  they  swim  to  the  shore,  repeating 
in   this   manner  their    sport  for  hours,  defying   cramps,  pre- 
serving their  electricities,  retaining  the  natural  heat  of  their 
bodies,  and  revelling  in  the  joyous  excitement  of  their  dai 
ous  sports.     This  practice  of  the  South  Sea   Island 
paid,  has  been  recently  imitated  by  the  Hnglish  Captain  Webb, 
in  his  successful  attempt  to  swim   across  the  Straits  of  Dover, 


127 

ho  having  anointed  his  person  before  starting  with  the  oil  of 
porpoises,  which  enabled  him  to  retain  his  electricity  and  heat 
in  his  body,  and  thus  to  accomplish  his  feat.  Xo\v,  in 
of  shipwreck,  it  is  obvious  that  when  people  are  thrown  into 
the  water,  no  mere  floating  apparatus,  called  "Life  Pre- 
servers" are  of  any  value  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  elec- 
tricity and  heat  of  the  floating  person  ;  but  that  he  is  liable  to 
be  drowned  in  a  very  few  minutes  by  the  escape  of  those 
elements  of  life  from  his  body,  notwithstanding  he  may  con- 
tinue to  float  for  hours  afterwards.  The  Esquimaux  and 
other  Arctic  tribes  of  people  delight  to  eat  oils,  blubber,  and 
other  fatty  substances,  having  been  taught  by  their  instinct 
that  this  fatty  diet  serves  to  retain  within  them  the  heat  of 
their  bodies — but  how  ?  All  fatty  substances  are  anti-fric- 
tional,  and  non-productive  of  electricity.  The  viscera  and 
tissues  of  these  fat  eating  people  become  invested  with  fat, 
retarding  the  evolution  of  electricity  in  their  system,  and  by 
thus  diminishing  their  interior  heat,  preventing  the  secretion 
of  excessive  perspiration,  by  which  their  electricity  would  be 
carried  off  from  their  bodies,  and  the  consequent  reduction  of 
their  temperature. 

The  people  along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  sea,  in 
the  south  of  France,  Spain  and  Portugal,  delight  also  in  oily 
foods,  as  a  preventive  of  the  excessive  secretion  of  perspiration, 
without  however  understanding  the  rationale  of  their  diet. 

The  first  Napoleon,  in  a  conversation  with  Corvisart,  his 
chief  physician,  said,  that  "  he  had  no  faith  in  the  art  of  medi- 
cine ;  but  that  he  placed  a  high  value  on  surgery.  Anatomy 
had  developed  a  knowledge  of  the  human  organization,  and 
post  mortem  dissections  had  displayed  the  effects  of  disease, 
or  of  injuries  to  various  parts  of  the  human  system,  by  which 
the  surgeon  could  profit,  but  that  no  such  valuable  aid  was 
offered  to  the  physician,  who  had  to  grope  his  way  as  best  he 
could,  in  his  attempts  to  discover  the  cause  and  the  seat  of  the 
disease,  and  then  to  adopt  an  experimental  treatment  to 
remove  it." 

"But,'"'  said  Corvisart,  "  Does  your  Majesty  never  take  medi- 
cine ? "  "  No/'  said  Napoleon ;  "  When  I  am  disordered,  I 
abstain  from  food,  mount  my  horse,  and  ride  rapidly  sixty 
miles — on  my  return  I  bathe,  sleep  soundly,  and  the  next  day  I 
am  well."  The  rationale  of  this  treatment  is  as  follows,  viz: 
The  active  exercise  on  horseback  produced  friction  in  many 
of  his  muscles,  which  friction  evolved  positive  electricity;  this 
required  renewed  inspiration  of  atmospheric  air,  negatively 


128 

electrified,  to  restore  the  electrical  equilibrium ;  the  union  of 
these  electricities  developed  heat  and  magnetism,  which  con- 
ducted to  the  stomach  and  intestines  served  to  digest  the  food 
previously  taken,  and  which,  having  remained  undigested,  had 
occasioned  his  disorder.  If  any  excess  of  electricity  remained 
in  his  system  after  his  return  to  the  palace,  the  warm  bath 
conducted  it  from  him,  and  soothed  him  to  sleep. 

Solomon,  the  wisest  of  men,  has  left,  as  one  of  his  legacies 
to  mankind,  the  maxim,  "  spare  the  rod  and  spoil  the  child." 
Now  let  us  examine  this.  When  children  were  misbehaved, 
were  destructive  in  their  inclinations  and  conduct,  rebellious 
to  authority,  and  were  otherwise  troublesome  to  parents  or 
others  having  the  charge  of  them,  Solomon,  being  a  keen 
observer  of  effects,  recommended  personal  chastisement  with 
the  rod,  and  naturally  attributed  their  better  deportment 
after  the  punishment,  to  the  fear  of  the  child  of  its  repetition, 
and  perhaps  with  greater  severity.  This  was  possibly  a  natural 
conclusion  on  his  part,  at  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  and  may 
be  so  considered  even  at  the  present  time,  but  there  is  another 
explanation,  more  philosophical  and  more  scientific.  It  is  as 
follows,  viz  :  "When  people  are  in  good  health,  they  are  usually 
cheerful,  in  good  humour  with  themselves,  and  amiable  to 
those  around  them;  they  do  not  think  of  or  attempt  to  per- 
petrate mischief  to  others,  their  electricities  are  in  equilibrium, 
and  they  deport  themselves  properly.  Now  let  one  or  other 
of  their  electricities  be  in  excess,  immediately  their  disposi- 
tions become  changed;  no  longer  amiable,  they  see  everything 
and  person  through  a  disturbed  medium;  they  become  sullen, 
cross,  crabbed,  quarrelsome  and  disagreeable;  the  least  dis- 
appointment ruffles  them,  and  they  proceed  to  behave  ill. 
Now  with  children,  when  the  rod  is  applied  vigorously  to  their 
persons,  the  friction  produced  by  the  blows  evolves  electricity 
of  the  kind  necessary  to  restore  the  healthy  electric  equilibrium 
of  their  bodies.  When  that  is  re-established  there  is  an  end 
of  the  trouble;  they  become  amiable  and  gentle.  This  salutary 
method  of  correcting  "  les  enfans  terribles"  has  greatly  fallen 
into  disuse  in  our  times,  from  the  overweening  maternal  in- 
stinct of  mammas,  which  is  horrified  by  the  cries  of  the  suffering 
little  ones,  and  hence  they  decry  against  it. 

This  punishment  is  also  well  adapted  to  the  adult  human 
animal,  if  we  are  to  believe  a  statement  recently  made  in  some 
of  the  London  newspapers.  It  seems  that  the  British  Parlia- 
ment, within  a  few  years  past,  had  re-established  corporeal 
punishment  with  the  cat-o'-nine-tails  at  a  whipping  post  for  a 


129 

certain  class  of  criminals,  whoso  crimes  Lad  become  alarmingly 
numerous.     Since    the  re-introduction   <>f  the  whipping 
and  its  accompanying  punishment,  these  cr'n.ics  hav.-  almost 
(1  to  exist       Let  other  people  pro  tit  by  the  example. 

It  is  remarkable  that  three  such  eminent  men  as  Solomon, 
Nicholas  F,  of  Knssia,  and  Xapoleou  Bonaparte,  should  each 
use  in  a  different  way  the  powers  of  electricity  successfully, 
and  yet  be  ignorant  of  the  powers  they  were  developing. 
Solomon  by  his  rod  correcting  the  wilful  caprices  of  childhood, 
Nicholas  I,  removing  the  effects  of  frost  bites,  and  Napoleon 
restoring  himself  to  health,  each  by  the  evolution  of  electricity. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  the  fourth  class  of  vertebrate  animals, 
which  as  a  general  rule  live  in  the  water,  and  prominent  in 
this  class  are  fishes.  "  A  fish  breathes  by  means  of  its  gills, 
extracting  the  air  from  the  water  in  which  it  lives,  and  reject- 
ing the  wrater,  which  carries  off  whatever  positive  electricity 
that  may  have  been  evolved  by  its  muscles  in  its  motions." 
This  leaves  the  fish  in  a  condition  of  negative  electricity,  like 
that  of  the  water  in  which  it  lives,  and  having  but  one  elec- 
tricity, it  is  cold  blooded — warm  blooded  animals  having  their 
blood  warmed  by  the  union  or  conjunction  of  opposite 
electricities.  "  Fish  are  nearly  insensible  to  pain,  from  the 
same*  cause,"  as  all  pain  in  animals  results  from  a  disturbance 
of  the  electrical  equilibrium  of  their  bodies.  "  The  tempera- 
ture offish  is  only  2°  \varmer  than  that  of  the  water  in  which 
they  live.  They  have  small  brains  in  comparison  to  the  size 
of  their  bodies — considerably  smaller  in  proportion  than  they 
are  in  birds  or  mammalia."  This  accounts  for  their  insensi- 
bility to  pain,  "  but  the  nerves  communicating  with  the  brain, 
are  as  large  in  fish  proportionately  as  in  either  birds  or  mam- 
malia. The  senses  of  sight  and  hearing  are  well  developed 
in  fish,  as  are  also  those  of  smell  and  taste,  particularly  that 
of  smell,  which  chiefly  guides  them  to  their  food.  This  sense 
is  very  keen,  more  so  than  in  many  other  animals,  and  thus  it 
is  that  strong  smelling  baits  are  so  successful  in  fishing." 

Fish  are  remarkably  fecund.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
animal  world  that  can  be  compared  with  them,  unless  it  be 
some  species  of  insects.  The  codfish  yields  its  eggs  in 
millions,  from  a  sturgeon  have  been  taken  seven  millions  of 
eggs,  flounder  produces  1.200,000,  the  sole  1,000,000,  mackerel 
500,000,  and  so  on.  These  eggs,  if  they  be  not  vivified  by  the 
milt  of  the  male  fish,  just  rot  away  in  the  sea,  and  never  come 
to  life  at  all,  and  are  of  no  value  except  perhaps  as  food  to 
some  minor  animals  of  the  deep. 


130 

It  is  now  well  known,  that  the  impregnation  of  fish  eggs  is 
a  purely  external  act  to  their  bodies,  fish  having  no  organs 
of  generation.  It  is  this  wonderfully  exceptional  principle  in 
the  life  of  fish,  that  has  given  rise  to  the  art  of  pisciculture, «'.  e. 
the  artificial  impregnation,  of  the  eggs  of  fish,  forcibly  exuded 
from  their  bodies,  which  are  brought  into  contact  with  the 
milt  of  the  male  fish  independent  altogether  of  the  animal. 

The  principle  of  fish  life  which  brings  the  male  and  female 
fish  together  at  the  period  of  spawning  is  unknown.  Some 
naturalists  have  supposed  that  the  fish  do  not  gather  into 
ehoals  till  they  are  about  to  perform  the  grandest  action  of 
their  nature,  and  that  till  then  each  animal  lives  a  separate 
and  individual  life;  but  this  does  not  suggest  the  attraction 
which  brings  them  into  this  association. 

I  will  venture  upon  an  explanation.  Their  instinct  teaches 
them  that  their  eggs,  when  ready  to  be  discharged  from  their 
bodies,  must  be  deposited  in  warmer  water  than  that  in 
which  they  habitually  swim.  Having  but  one  electricity,  the 
negative,  which  is  the  same  as  that  in  which  they  live,  no  vivi- 
fication  of  their  eggs  could  take  place  if  duly  commingled 
with  the  milt  of  the  male  fish  in  mid  ocean,  but  attracted  by 
the  warmer  water  of  rivers  at  their  sources,  or  in  locjhs  or 
bays  sheltered  from  the  waves  of  the  sea,  where  in  their 
shallows  vegetable  food  is  always  growing  at  the  bottom  for 
the  support  of  the  young  fry,  when  they  shall  be  hatched, 
they  hasten  in  immense  shoals  for  mutual  protection  from 
their  enemies,  to  these  lying-in  places,  where  th-  r  roo 

of  the   female,  and   the   milt  of  the  male   are   contiguously 
deposited  on  the  rocks  or  in  the  gravel  at  the  bottom.     The 
ve  electricity  of  the  warm  water  derived   from  the  fric- 
tional    action    of  sunlight    upon  the  rocks    and  sand  on  the 
•ii  of  the  shallow  waters  in  which  the  eggs  of  the  fish 
Q    deposited,  as   well  as  upon  the    eggs   themselves 
coining  in  contact   with   the  negatively    electrified   eggs    and 
milt   evolves    heat,    and  with  it  magnetism,  and  in   due  time 
.•mug  fry  are  fully  developed,  vivified  by  these  elements 
of  life,  breaking  the  outer  membrane  <>r  shell  of  the  eggs  con- 
taining them,  already   distended  and  thinned  by  the  growth 
of  the  embryo  within,  emerging  into  full  life  into  the  element 
•where  they  are  to  have  their  being.     Of  ;he  hatching 

of  the  eggs  of  fish  is  not  uniform  as  to  time  in  different  species, 
some  requiring  a  longer  period  than  others  to  attain  the 
maturity  of  their  development. 

Here  we  have  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  production  of 


131 

life  by  electricity  and  magnetism,  outside  of  the  bodies  of  the 
parent  fish;  while  perhaps  in  almost  every  other  class  of  an.  mal 
life  it  is  developed  within  the  body  of  the  female,  after  impreg- 
nation by  the  male  animal,  showing  most  conclusively  that  these 
imponderables  are  always  present  as  well  at  the  commence- 
ment of  life  as  during  its  continuance,  while  it  has  been 
demonstrated  time  and  again,  that  whatever  decreases  the  vis 
vitce  of  an  animal  diminishes  also  the  evidence  of  the  elec- 
tricity within  it,  until  after  death  it  ceases  altogether.  Arc  wo 
not  right,  therefore,  in  concluding  that  electricity,  magnetism, 
and  heat  are,  in  certain  relations  to  each  other,  elements  of 
every  life  ? 

Oxygen  gas  is  a  supporter  of  combustion,  as  it  also  is  of  life, 
which  in  fact  is  one  form,  of  combustion.  It  is  negatively 
electrified,  and  it  is  because  it  is  so  electrified  that  it  supports 
both  life  and  combustion.  Let  us  illustrate  this.  The  atmos- 
phere, composed  of  nitrogen  and  oxygen  gases  for  the  most 
part,  with  a  slight  admixture  of  other  gases  and  watery  vapour, 
which  last  contains  a  large  portion  of  oxygen  gas,  is  nega- 
tively electrified.  "Wood,  coal,  and  vegetable  substances,  in  a 
dry  state,  are  positively  electrified.  Now  when  we  have  on 
our  hearths  wood  as  fuel,  and  from  the  condition  of  the  wood 
as  well  as  that  ol  the  atmosphere  the  combustion  of  the  wood 
is  slow  and  sluggish,  we  apply  a  pair  of  bellows  to  hasten  it 
the  common  explanation  of  this  use  of  the  bellows  is,  that  it 
brings  more  oxygen  gas  into  contact  with  the  slightly  kindled 
wood  than  the  atmosphere  naturally  furnishes,  and  hence  the 
combustion  is  quickened.  This  is  true,  but  it  also  brings 
associated  with  the  oxygen  gas  its  negative  electricity,  which 
coming  into  union  with  the  positive  electricity  of  the  fire  and 
the  wood  already  slightly  heated,  produces  increased  heat, 
which  the  additional  oxygen  gas  thus  supplied  nourishes  into 
flame,  and  the  fire  is  properly  kindled.  Potassium  thrown 
into  a  vessel  of  oxygen  gas,  bursts  into  the  most  brilliant 
flame  from  the  same  cause,  the  potassium  being  positively 
electrified  in  a  high  degree  and  so  it  is,  but  in  a  lesser  degree, 
with  the  other  metalloids. 

In  regard  to  the  non-producing  and  non-conducting  powers 
of  electricity  by  fatty  or  oleaginous  substances,  a  very  remark- 
able fact  has  been  developed  in  relation  to  the  human  family. 

It  has  for  a  long  time  been  observed  that  in  countries  where 
the  sugar  cane  has  been  cultivated,  and  where  sugar  h°.s  boon 


132 

manufactured  from  its  expressed  juice,  the  negroes  employed 
in  making  it  grow  enormously  fat  from  the  unrestricted  use  of 
the  warm  juice  of  the  expressed  cane  during  the  process  of 
boiling.  From  this  food,  like  the  whale,  they  become  sur- 
rounded by  an  enyelop  of  fat,  as  do  also  the  interior  organs 
of  their  bodies.  This  fat  is  anti-frictional  and  preyents  the 
evolution  of  electricity,  which  in  the  absence  of  the  fat  would 
be  developed.  Hence  these  labourers  could  no  longer  be  pro- 
creatiye,  and  as  their  labour  was  yery  exhausting,  the  neces- 
sity for  a  new  gang  of  labourers  every  four  or  five  years  be- 
came established  on  sugar  plantations.  This  fact,  in  sugar 
producing  countries,  has  kept  alive  and  continued  the  n< 
slave  trade  to  this  day — and  where  it  has  been  abolished  and 
the  coolie  trade  substituted  for  it,  the  same  results  obtain. 
]S"o  women  are  sent  to  the  plantations  with  the  coolies,  for 
they  become  like  negroes,  virtually  emasculated  by  the 
absence  of  their  electricity.  So  that  we  may  attribute  to  the 
loss  of  electricity  in  the  producers  of  sugar  the  great  obstacle 
to  the  abolition  of  slavery  for  so  long  a  time  in  the  British 
AVfst  Indies,  and  at  the  present  moment  in  the  Spanish  Islands, 
in  Brazil,  and  elsewhere  as  it  exists. 

The  same  deteriorating  influences  upon  their  organization 
from  fatness,  in  other  portions  of  the  human  race,  appear  in 
various  parts  of   the   world,  preventing  the  development   of 
their    electricity    and    magnetism,    by    which    their    animal 
functions  are  impaired,  and  their  intellectual  faculties  greatly 
weakened.     The  Esquimaux,  Fins,  Laps,  and  all  inhabitants  of 
high  northern  climates,   requiring  a   fatty  and   carbonaceous 
loud,  are    examples  of  this   character.     The   inference  to   be 
drawn  from  this  remarkable  fact  is  that  such  persons  as  are 
opposed  to  an  it:  •{'  population,  and  who  resist  the  in- 

junction to  the  Patriarchs  of  "  going  forth,  multiplying  and 
replenishing  the  earth,"  should  select  for  their  companions  in 
lite  the  fattest  persons  of  the  opposite  sex  that  they  can  find, 
and  they  will  be  rewarded  by  an  immense  reduction  in  their 
household  and  educational  cxp<  hen  compared  with 

those  of  their  neighbours  who  chance  to  be  of  a  lean  kind. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  of  continuing  a  species  of 
animal,  I  may  mention  that  in  Europe,  as  well  as  in  this 
couir  ;\v  mistaken  notion  exists  as  to  the  best  age  at 

which  young  cattle  should  be  propagated.  The  prevailing 
idea  is  that  heifers  should  not  be  allowed  to  bear  their  off- 
spring before  they  are  four  years  old,  and  in  the  state  of  Penn- 


133 

sylvania  they  are  not  taxable-  before  they  have  attained  that 
Xow,  this  is  ;i  fallacy,  as  1  have  abundantly  tested  dur- 
ing rlie  last  twenty  years.  I  have  thought  that  nature  was  the 
best  guide  in  sueh  cases,  and  accordingly,  as  my  animals:  are 
always  well  cared  for,  my  heifers  are  sufficiently  developed 
and  matured  when  nine  months  old  to  receive  the  masculine 
impregnation,  and  to  undergo,  afterwards,  a  healthy  gestation, 
and  to  produce  their  young  when  about  eighteen  months  old. 
By  my  system  of  breeding,  there  is  a  saving  in  the  expense  of 
supporting  young  heifers  during  two  years  and  a  half  over  the 
common  method.  My  herd  of  cows  thus  produced  will  com- 
pare favorably  in  size,  produce  of  milk,  cream  and  butter,  and 
nealthfulness  with  any  herd  of  similar  numbers  of  cows  in  this 
country.  I  do  not  remember  to  have  had  a  sick  cow  or  heifer 
during  the  last  twenty  years.  But  I  have  exceeded  even  this 
early  propagation  of  their  species.  Last  year  a  young  heifer 
of  mine,  only  four  months  old,  manifesting  a  desire  for  copu- 
lation, was  permitted  to  receive  the  male  impregnation.  IShe 
duly  conceived,  and  before  she  was  fourteen  months  old  she 
bore  a  healthy  male  calf.  The  heifer  herself,  apparently,  was 
not  incommoded  by  the  event,  and  continued  to  enjoy  excel- 
lent health ;  and  some  six  weeks  after  the  birth  of  her  calf  she 
again  received  the  male  impregnation.  This  heifer  was  reared 
under  the  stimulating  influence  of  the  associated  blue  and 
plain  glass,  which  had  hastened  its  development  three  years 
and  a  half.  Xow,  apply  this  discovery  to  the  rearing  of  do- 
mestic animals  throughout  the  world,  and  begin  to  estimate 
the  benefit  to  mankind  to  be  derived  from  the  reduced  ex- 
penses in  producing  them  and  the  great  gain  that  will  result 
in  increasing  the  number  of  animals  to  be  raised  in  any  given 
period  of  time,  and  some  faint  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  great 
value  of  this  discovery  in  this  single  branch  of  human  in- 
dustry. 

A  wide-spread  error  in  agriculture  exists  in  Europe,  as  well 
as  in  this  country,  and  has  even  been  maintained  in  books  of 
science.  It  is  "  that  underneath  large  trees  vegetation  droops 
and  languishes,  even  when  the  shade  is  not  very  intense.'' 
Some  years  ago  I  had  occasion  to  plough  up  the  sod  which 
covered  a  small  orchard  of  apple  and  chestnut  trees  on  my 
farm.  All  the  trees  were  old  and  large.  I  caused  the  field  to 
be  well  manured,  even  to  the  bottom  of  the  trunks  of  all  the 
trees.  When  the  ground  was  well  broken  up,  I  directed  my 
farmer  to  mark  out  drills  for  sugar  beets,  and  to  plant  the  seed 


close  up  to  the  trunks  of  all  the  trees.     He  looked  at  me  with 
lishment,  and  said  :  "  Wliy,  sir,  plant  so  close  to  the  trees  ? 
Kothing  ever  grows  under  the  shade  of   tr-  I  replied 

that  I  had  heard  such  a  statement  before,  but  that  I  did  not 
think  it  to  be  well  founded.  I  had  seen  too  many  weeds, 
suckers  and  brambles  growing  luxuriantly  under  trees  all 
the  country  to  attach  any  credence  to  it.  "Do  as  I  tell  you  ; 
plant  the  seed  close  to  the  trees,  and  leave  the  result  to  take 
care  of  itself."  My  farmer  was  so  much  astounded  by  what  he 
considered  my  foolish  directions,  that  he  went  over  to  some 
farmers  who  were  planting  their  seed  in  neighbouring  fields, 
and  told  them  of  the  absurd  directions  I  had  given  him.  In 
the  fulness  of  their  neighbourly  kindness,  they  came  over  to  me. 
to  enlighten  me  on  the  subject  of  farming.  "  Your  man  tells 
us,"  said  one  of  them  to  me,  "that  you  have  told  him  to  plant 
sugar  beet  seed  close  to  the  trunks  of  your  big  chestnut  trees. 
We  have  come  over  to  tell  you,  what  you  may  not  know,  that 
no  plant  will  grow  under  the  shade  of  trees,  and  to  dissuade, 
you  from  attempting  to  make  them  grow  there.  We  have 
been  farming  25  years,  and  our  fathers  before  us  all  their  lives, 
and  we  have  never  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  planting  for  a 
crop  under  the  shade  of  trees.  Pray  don't  try  it."  I  thanked 
them  for  their  solicitude,  but  told  them  that  "  it  was  an  experi- 
ment; if  it  should  fail,  the  loss  of  a  few  seed  and  a  little  labour 
were  all  that  would  be  involved  in  it ;  and  if  it  should  succeed, 
it  would  explode  and  banish  a  very  mischievous  and  expensive 
fallacy  in  agriculture;  little  harm  was  to  be  apprehended  from 
it."  The  farmer  finding  me  determined,  said,  "  You  gentle- 
men from  the  city,  come  into  the  country,  buy  land,  > 
expensive  buildings,  pun-base  high  priced  stock  of  all  kinds, 
and  every  new  fangled  tool  or  labour  saving  machine  that  is 
advertised,  hire  people  and  go  to  work,  and  think  you  are 
farmers;  but  I  have  never  known  one  of  you  1o  make  even 
his  expenses  out  of  his  farming.  You  had  all  much  better  do 

•  ur  neighbours  do  than  strike  out  into  new  paths.' 
paid  to  him,  "your  rebuke  is  just,  and  what  you  say  is  no 
doubt  true;  L  acknowledge  it  to  be,  true  in  my  case.  1  know 
very  little  of  anything,  but  I  could  not  think  for  a  moment  of 
taking  up  the  time  of  my  farming  neighbours  by  asking  them 
Low  to  manage  my  farm;  I  must  learn  it  as  best,  I  ran  without 
taxing  their  neighbourly  kindness,  and  this  experiment  of 
mine  is  one  of  my  early  lessons  in  farming."  Finally,  these 
good  people  took  their  leave,  and  my  beet  seed  Were  planted 
according  to  my  directions.  Iii  due  time  they  germinated, 


185 

and  began  to  grow,  and  to  tin-  surprise  of  my  fanner  the 
plants  as  they  grew  beeame  stronger  and  larger  at  the  1'ottora 
of  the  trunks  of  the  largest  trees  than  the  other  plants  were 
in  the  open  spaces  in  other  parts  of  the  field.  This  dilferenee 
continued  to  iner  >n  advanced,  and  when  the 

time  had  arrived  for  Catherine:  them,  the  greatest  ei>ntra-t 
was  perceptible  hetween  those  that  had  grown  under  the 
shade  of  the  trees,  even  of  the  largest,  and  those  which  had 
grown  in  the  open  sunlight. 

At  this  time  the  same  kind  neighbours  who  had  visited  mo 
in  the  previous  spring  to  advise  me  against  planting  my  seed 
under  the  shade  of  the  trees,  were  gathering  their  autumn 
crops  in  the  adjacent  fields.  I  went  over  to  them  and  asked 
them  if  they  would  like  to  see  my  beet  crop,  and  on  their  ex- 
pressing a  desire  to  see  it,  I  invited  them  to  accompany  me, 
and  we  proceeded  to  the  field.  On  our  way  I  asked  them 
where  they  thought  the  best  beets  would  be  found.  "  In  the 
open  sunlight  to  be  sure,"  was  the  answer ;  "  nothing  ever 
grows  under  the  shade  of  trees !"  I  made  no  reply,  and  soon 
after  we  entered  the  field.  As  we  passed  along  I  was  amused 
at  the  astonishment  depicted  on  their  countenances  as  they 
examined  the  beets  in  different  parts  of  the  field.  Presently 
one  of  them,  nudging  another,  said  in  a  low  voice ;  "  George, 
did  you  ever  see  any  thing  like  that  before  ?  why,  there  are  no 
beets  in  the  sunlight,  and  the  big  ones  are  under  the  trees." 
This  was  the  fact;  the  plants  in  the  sunlight  were  few,  scat- 
tered and  spindling  in  their  growth,  having  a  long  slender 
taproot  and  were  valueless  for  food,  *  while  there  was  a 
luxuriant  growth  under  the  trees  of  large  sized  and  excellent 
quality.  After  examining  attentively  the  whole  field,  and 
declaring  that  they  had  never  seen  or  heard  of  the  like,  and 
would  not  have  believed  it  had  they  not  seen  it  themselves, 
they  came  to  me  and  asked  me  if  I  could  explain  so  unheard 
of  a  phenomenon.  I  replied,  "  you  know  1  am  from  the  city, 
how  then  can  I  be  expected  to  know  anything  about  farming? 
If  you  who  have  been  farmers  all  your  lives,  and  your  fathers 
before  you  the  same,  cannot  explain  this  why  should  you  ex- 
pect me  who  have  no  experience  in  farming,  being  from  the 
city,  to  do  it  ?  I  know  nothing  about  it,  but  I  will  tell  you 
what  I  think.  I  will  illustrate  my  meaning  by  an  example  : 
suppose  you  should  take  two  men,  both  healthy,  strong  and 
vigorous,  and  both  very  hungry — one  of  them  is  six  feet  tall 
and  very  broad  and  muscular — the  other  man  is  five  feet  six 
inches  high,  and  also  muscular.  Suppose  you  place  them  at  a 


136 

table  and  put  before  them  food  sufficient  only  for  one  man  of 
average  size  and  strength,  and  tell  thorn  to  eat,  how  much  of 
the  food ;  do  you  think  the  little  man  would  get  ?"  "  Well,  I 

-  not  a  great  deal  of  it,"  said  one  of  the  men  ;  to  which  the 
others  assented.  '"Xow,  suppose  you  had  put  on  the  table  enough 
food  for  both,  would  they  not  rise  from  the  table  refreshed 
and  reinvigorated,  and  ready  for  their  work?"  I  said  to  them. 
"  Well,  yes,  I  should  think  so;"  was  their  answer.  "Now," 
said  I  to  them  ;  "  the  first  supposition  illustrates  your  mode 
of  farming.  You  manure  your  land  lightly,  furnishing  food 
enough  only  for  your  crop,  and  nothing  for  your  hungry  trees, 
if  you  should  happen  to  have  any  upon  your  land.  The 

.  neglected  and  hungry,  take  all  the  food  within  reach  of 
their  roots,  and  nothing  grows,  therefore,  under  their  shade — 
hence  your  proverb  that  plants  will  not  grow  underneath  the 
shade  of  large  trees  even  when  it  is  not  very  intense.  In 
my  experiment  I  had  placed  sufficient  food  before  the 
large  trees,  and  the  small  plants.  The  tree  digests  its  food, 
and  can  take  no  more  food  at  a  given  time  than  can  any 
animal,  relatively — consequently  what  is  left  over  after  feeding 
the  tree  goes  to  feed  the  small  plants  and  it  also  gets  its  fill 
of  nutrition,  so  that  both  thrive  and  grow  healthfully.  Now, 
there  is  another  reason  why  small  plants  should  grow  better 
and  faster  under  the  shade  of  large  trees  than  anywhere  else, 
and  it  is  this.  The  dew  late  in  the  afternoon  begins  to  settle 
upon  the  leaves  of  plants  under  the  shade  of  trees  an  hour  or 
more  before  it  does  out  in  the  sunlight,  and  in  the  morning' 
after  the  sun  has  risen,  the  shade  of  the  trees  protects  the 
plants  under  them  from  losing  the  dew  upon  them  by  evapora- 
tion till  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.  So  that  the  plants  under  the 
shade  of  the  trees  have  the  advantage  of  four  or  more  hours 
of  moisture,  in  the  dew  that  rests  upon  them,  than  other  plants 
in  the  sunlight  which  have  no  such  protection — and  you  know 
that  moisture  is  necessary  to  the  growth  of  plants."  They 
thanked  me  for  my  explanation  and  went  their  way  (•on- 
founded.  Since  then  I  have  cultivated  under  very  large  trees 
on  my  lawn,  plants  and  flowers  of  many  descriptions  with  [ 

and  the   cultivation  has  greatly  beiietiied   the1    ire.-s 
then,  I  would  recommend  to  all  having  trees  on  their 

lawns  to  cultivate  the  soil  at  their  ba^es  in  flowering  plan' 
they  desire  ornament-,  or  in  vegetables  if  they  need  them  for 
Iders  of  small   patches  of  land,  this   information 
may  prove  to  he  of  ..I  eonvenience. 

This  little  narrative  brings  me  to  the  subject  of  the  forma- 


137 

tion  of  dew,  which  I  do  not  attribute  to  condensation  of  the 
atmosphere    holding   it   in    suspension,    but    to   the    <  • 
opposite    cause,  viz :    the  expansion    and    rarefaction    of  tho 
atmosphere  by  heat,  its  ascent  upwards  and  its  abandonment 
of  the  water  which  it  had  previously  held  in  suspension. 

When,  in  the  rotation  of  the  earth  upon  its  axis,  any  given 
area  of  its  surface  is  no  longer  illuminated  by  the  sun's  rays, 
or,  as  in  common  language,  it  is  said,  "It  is  sunset;"  the  rays 
of  sunlight  do  not  illumine  the  atmosphere  that  is  over  such 
an  area  of  the  earth's  surface,  and,  as  the  night  advances,  that 
atmosphere  becomes  colder  and  more  magnetic  with  its 
increase  of  cold  by  induction.  Columns  or  volumes  of  this 
cold  air  are  then  attracted  to  the  earth  by  its  opposite 
magnetism,  and  descend  towards  it.  At  the  same  time  the  air 
in  contact  with  and  just  above  the  earth's  surface,  having  been 
heated  during  the  day  by  the  electricity  evolved  by  sunlight, 
and  being  positively  electrified,  ascends  to  meet  the  cold  air 
descending  from  above,  negatively  electrified  and  oppositely 
magnetic;  the  conjunction  of  these  opposite  electricities 
produces  additional  heat  which  so  warms  the  air  freighted 
\pith  moisture 'that  is  descending  from  above,  that  its  expan- 
sion and  rarefaction  will  no  longer  admit  of  its  holding  in 
suspension  the  watery  vapour  that  it  was  bringing  down  with 
it ;  it  consequently  ascends  alone,  leaving  the  globules  of  water 
which  it  contained  to  be  carried  to  the  earth  by  their  magnet- 
ism, and  to  insensibly  settle  upon  the  grass,  leaves,  earth,  &c., 
and  form  what  we  call  dew,  hoar  frost,  &c-,  according  to  the 
temperature  of  the  earth's  surface  at  the  time  of  such  deposi- 
tion. This  occurs  in  a  cloudless  sky. 

When  the  clouds  are  floating  above  us,  there  is  no  dew,  not 
because,  as  we  have  been  taught,  that  the  radiated  heat  from 
the  earth  is  reflected  by  the  lower  surface  of  tihe  clouds  to  the 
earth,  thus  keeping  the  air  in  contact  with  the  earth  too  warm 
to  deposit  its  water  as  dew,  as  that  is  an  absurdity,  since  heat 
reaching  the  lower  part  of  any  gaseous  or  vapoury  fluid,  would 
at  once  penetrate  and  permeate  such  gases,  vapours  or  clouds 
and  expand,  rarefy  and  disperse  them ;  but  because  the  inter- 
posing clouds  would  prevent  the  descent  of  the  volumes  of 
cold  air  freighted  with  moisture  above  them  to  the  earth 
below,  and  consequently  there  could  be  no  deposition  of  water 
or  dew  from  them.  Cold  does  not  condense  the  atmosphere, 
for  if  it  did  the  density  of  the  air  would  be  much  greater  in 
winter  than  in  summer,  which  we  know  is  not  the  case.  Be- 


138 

sides,  the  rarity  and  tenuity  of  the  air  at  great  elevations, 
where  extreme  cold  prevails  perennially,  contradicts  this,  as- 
sumption. Nor  has  the  air  any  -weight — gravitation  is  sup- 
posed to  act  only  in  one  direction,  viz:  towards  the  centre  of 
the  earth,  while  it  is  known  that  the  air  presses  equally  in  all 
directions,  upwards  from  below,  laterally  and  downward  from 
ahove,  hence  it  cannot  be  acted  upon  by  gravitation.  The 
barometric  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  in  its  variations,  is  due 
in  all  probability  to  magnetic  attraction  and  repulsion  between 
the  atmosphere  and  the  earth.  The  same  reasoning  applies  to 
the  waters  of  the  oceans.  They  are  fluids  pressing  like  the  air 
in  all  directions,  upwards  from  below,  laterally  and  down- 
wards, and  rest  upon  the  earth  by  the  attraction  of  the  earth's 
magnetism,  and  not  by  gravitation,  since  their  upward  and 
lateral  pressures  are  antagonistic  to  the  attraction  of  gravi- 
tation. Every  drop  of  water  is  a  magnet.  When  the  globules 
are  vertical  their  poles  are  at  the  foci  of  their  forms,  the 
lower  pole  attracted  by  the  magnetism  of  the  air  above 
and  its  upper  pole  attracted  towards  the  magnetism  of  the 
earth  below.  These  downward  and  upward  attractions  and 
corresponding  repulsions  dislocate,  from  their  great  mobility, 
other  globules  of  the  water,  and  force  their  polar  magnetic 
axis  to  be  horizontal  or  dia-magnetic,  and  these  pressures 
everywhere  varying  intension,  develop  magnetic  forces  through- 
out the  mass  of  water,  acting  at  every  possible  angle  with  each 
other,  and  producing  everywhere  opposite  resistances.  These 
magnetic  changes  induce  electrical  disturbances  in  the  water, 
resulting  in  the  development  of  heat  by  friction  and  the  con- 
junction of  opposite  electricities,  causing  in  all  latitudes  those 
currents  of  evaporation  associated  with  electricity,  which  we 
find  agglomerated  in  the  atmosphere  as  masses  of  clouds,  fogs, 
mists,  '&.(-.  These  masses  of  clouds  acquiring  their  electricities 
bv  induction,  become  oppositely  electrified  according  to  their 
elevation  in  the  atmosphere'  above  the  earth,  and  as  they 
approach  each  other  in  their  movements,  an  electric,  discharge 
takes  place,  a  decomposition  of  the  watery  vapour  occurs,  the 
hvdp  -  is  burnt  in  the  oxygen  gas  of  the  decomposed 

r,  displaying  that  bright  yellow  light  peculiar  to  hydrogen, 
in  Hashes  KO  da/zling  that  if  they  were   not  so  evanescent  no 
animal  vision  could  supporttheir  glare  and  then  follow  their  zig- 
•ath  in  the  atmosphere,  as  they  are  attracted  by  currents  of 
en  in  the  air  of  varying  conducting  powers.     The  result  is 
trilled  and  magnetic,  the  globules  of  which  repelling 
each-other,  and  pressed  upon  in  every  direction  by  the  magnetic 


139 

forces  of  the  atmosphere,  descend  to  the  earth  as  ppheriral 
drops  to  meet  and  mingle  with  the  magnetism  of  the  earth. 
These  drops  of  water  are  what  we  call  rain. 

If  it  were  not  for  the  upward  pressure  of  the  waters  of  the 
ocean  from  their  lowest  depth,  how  long  wolild  the  crust  of 
earth  beneath  them,  (computed  by  physicists  to  be  relatively  to 
the  mass  of  the  earth  no  thicker  than  an  egg  shell  is  when 
compared  to  the  mass  of  albumen  that  it  contains,)  be  able  to 
sustain  the  pressure  downwards  of  a  mass  of  water  from  five 
to  ten  miles  in  depth  as  it  moves  in  its  tides,  its  currents,  and 
the  rotation  of  the  earth  upon  its  axis,  and  as  it  rolls  in  its  orbit  ? 
"Would  not  the  momentum  of  such  a  mass  of  waters  thus  put 
in  motion,  in  the  course  of  time  that  has  elapsed  since  they 
were  gathered  in  seas  and  oceans,  wear  away  so  much  of  the 
earth's  crust  as  to  allow  the  waters  to  flood  the  interior  fires 
of  the  earth,  and  produce  explosions  that  would  shiver  the 
planet  into  thousands  of  fragments?  And  does  not  this 
furnish  another  argument  against  the  doctrine  of  gravitation  ? 
The  same  principle  applies  relative  to  the  upward  pressure  of 
the  atmosphere.  In  the  cases  of  the  waters  of  the  ocean  and 
the  atmosphere — both  being  fluids,  differing  however  in  their 
tenuity,  their  molecules  have  great  mobility  among  themselves 
respectively,  and  from  the  irregular  and  unequal  upward  and 
downward  magnetic  attractions  and  repulsions,  these  mole- 
cules are  displaced  and  turned  aside,  changing  the  directions 
of  their  poles  and  their  axes,  and  thus  becoming  dia-magnetic 
or  horizontally  magnetic,  creating  thus  the  lateral  pressures 
existing  both  in  the  water  and  the  atmosphere. 

"When,  from  the  mobility  of  the  molecules  in  the  crust  of 
the  earth  at  the  period  of  the  planet  being  launched  into 
space  in  its  rotary  motion  on  its  axes,  and  its  progressive- 
motion  in  its  orbit,  the  equatorial  diameter  was,  by  magnetic 
attraction  and  repulsion,  increased  twenty-six  miles  more  than 
the  polar  diameter,  the  same  influences  repelled  from  tho 
poles  respectively  and  attracted  to  the  respective  opposite 
poles  the  waters  in  the  arctic  and  antarctic  basins  till  they 
met  in  the  tropics. 

The  upward  pressure  of  these  waters,  their  polar  currents 
of  cold  water  at  great  depths,  and  the  rotation  of  the  earth 
on  its  axis  from  west  to  east,  have  united  in  forcing  the 
masses  of  oceanic  waters  to  the  westward  till  they  impinged 
upon  the  eastern  coasts  of  America  and  of  Asia — action  and 


140 

re-action  being  equal ;  these  waters,  after  their  impact  with 
these  coasts  and  their  contiguous  islands,  were  reflected  hack 
again  towards  the  western  coasts  of  Europe  and  Africa,  and 
meeting  midway  in  oceans,  the  succeeding  waves  of  these 
waters  have  risen  above  the  general  level  of  the  oceans  a  few 
feet,  which  has  been  called  a  tide,  and  which  has  been 
attributed  erroneously  to  the  attraction  of  the  sun  and  moon 
instead  of  to  the  forces  which  I  have  mentioned  above. 

The  impact  of  these  waters  in  mid-ocean  throws  back  to  the 
European  and  African  waters,  coming  from  thence  and  to 
eastern  American  and  Asiatic  coasts,  the  waters  attracted 
there  by  the  rotary  motion  of  the  earth  on  its  axis — and  thua 
they  force  back  in  all  these  continents  the  waters  of  the  rivers 
emptying  themselves  into  the  oceans,  creating  in  them  the 
tides,  the  causes  of  which  never  before  have  been  satisfactorily 
explained.  These  tides,  therefore,  are  the  results  of  the 
magnetic  attraction  and  repulsion  of  the  waters  and  the  coasts 
of  the  continents  where  they  are  seen  and  felt — and  are  not 
affected  at  all,  either  by  sun  or  moon. 

The  currents  of  the  Mediterranean  sea — the  upper  one 
inwards  is  the  result  of  the  pressure  of  the  Atlantic  ocean  in 
its  reflux  from  the  mid  ocean  impact  of  the  oceanic  waters, 
the  lower  current  running  into  the  Atlantic  ocean — is  pro- 
duced by  the  upward  pressure  of  the  Mediterranean  waters 
and  the  magnetic  attraction  of  the  colder  polar  current  at  great 
depth  towards  the  equator. 

The  heat  of  the  earth  ascends  perpendicularly  to  the  hori- 
zon. It  cannot,  therefore,  be  deflected  to  any  considerable 
extent  in  producing  winds  or  currents  of  air.  These  result 
from  electrical  and  magnetic  attractions  and  repulsions — the 
upward  pressure  of  the  air,  which  is  nothing  inure  than  tho 
magnetic  repulsion  of  it  from  the  earth — having  their  similar 
-  (•<'  magnetism  adjacent,  until  by  induction  the  polarity 
of  the  air  is  changed  in  the  higher  atmosphere,  where,  being 
intensely  cold,  it  is  attenuated  l>y  the  repellent  qualities  of  its 
homogeneous  magnetism,  and  not  by  the  low  do^iv  of  its 
temperature,  which  happens  to  be  coincident  with  its  mag- 
netism, but  is  incapable  of  condensing  the  molecules  of  the 
atmosphere. 

When  we  remember  the  law  of  attraction  and  repulsion  of 


141 

magnetism,  viz:  that  it  acts  inversely  as  the  square  of  the 
distance,  and  that  the  earth,  its  oceans  and  its  atmosphere,  are 
all  magnetic,  and  mutually  attract  and  repel  each  other  accord- 
ing to  this  law — which,  by  the  way,  is  the  same  law  that 
Newton  assigned  to  the  gravity  of  matter — and  when  we  fur- 
ther remember  that  they  are  all  in  continuity  with  each  other, 
we  cannot  fail  to  conceive  that  thi.s  planet  has  all  the 
forces  within  and  around  it  that  are  necessary  for  the  per- 
formance of  all  its  functions  without  attributing  them  to  the 
actions  of  such  distant  orbs  as  the  sun  and  the  moon.  If  the 
moon,  as  our  astronomers  assert,  exerts  a  greater  influence 
upon  the  tides  than  does  the  sun,  owing  to  the  greater  dis- 
tance of  the  sun  from  the  earth,  by  a  parity  of  reasoning,  how 
much  more  influential  must  the  earth  itself  be  which  is  in 
contact  both  with  its  waters  and  its  atmosphere.  All  fluids 
when  acted  upon  by  unequal  forces  assume  a  spiral  course,  as 
witness  the  whirlwind  in  the  atmosphere,  and  the  whirlpool, 
and  eddying  currents  in  the  waters.  The  currents  of  the 
oceans  are  spiral  curves  modified  in  their  curvatures  by  the 
fixed  as  well  as  movable  obstacles  they  encounter  in  their 
several  courses. 

When  a  wave  at  sea  has  reached  its  crest,  why  does  it  curl 
over  and  break  into  spray,  as  it  descends  into  the  trough  of 
the  sea  ?  If  the  moon  lifts  it  up  why  does  not  the  moon  hold 
it  up  ?  When  a  wave  breaks  on  the  shore,  why  does  it  cling 
to  the  earth,  and  recede  in  contact  with  it  as  the  undertow,  fre- 
quently carrying  with  it  to  destruction  the  incautious  or  un- 
skilful swimmer  ?  Why  does  not  the  moon  keep  this  water 
on  the  surface  instead  of  suffering  it,  though  it  be  warmer 
than  the  water  at  greater  depths,  to  seek  its  company 
against  an  assumed  law  of  physics,  that  the  warmer  fluid  floats 
upon  the  colder  ? 

Why,  in  the  whirlpool,  does  the  warm  surface  water  rush 
down  its  spiral  coils  to  meet  and  mingle  with  the  colder  water 
of  the  greater  depths  ?  And  why  does  this  cold  water  ascend 
in  counter  spirals  to  meet  the  descending  warmer  water? 
This  action  is  not  caused  by  gravitation ;  it  is  magnetic,  and 
so  it  is  also  in  the  whirlwind.  The  warm  air  of  the  lower 
atmosphere,  in  contact  with  the  earth,  is  taken  up  in  its  spiral 
coils,  attracted  by  the  opposite  magnetism  of  the  upper  air, 
which  descends  in  opposite  spiral  coils  to  meet  it  in  its  ascent, 
and  together  the  column  of  whirling  air,  repelled  from  its 


142 

source  and  carried  over  the  surface  of  the  earth,  hut  in  con- 
tact with  it,  -with  a  resistless  impetuosity,  by  the  electrical 
current  which  has  developed  the  magnetism  of  the  column, 
devastates  and  destroys  every  obstacle  that  lies  in  its  course, 
till  the  magnetic  equilibrium  is  again  attained,  when  a  calm 
ensues.  In  these  instances  of  the  whirlpool  and  the  whirl- 
wind, the  assumed  law  of  gravitation  is  violated  by  the  ascent 
of  the  warm  air  into  the  colder  upper  atmosphere,  as  well  as 
by  the  descent  of  the  warm  surface  water  to  the  depths  below; 
thus  proving  that  the  motions  of  fluids,  whether  gaseous  or 
liquid,  are  controlled  by  magnetism. 

A  balloon  charged  with  hydrogen  gas,  and  released  from  its 
fastening  to  the  earth,  ascends  rapidly  into  the  upper  atmo- 
ephere — the  region  of  intense  cold,  where,  as  we  are  taught  in 
the  schools,  it  should  be  condensed,  and  the  sides  of  tho 
balloon  should  be  loose  and  pressed  inward  by  the  condensing 
power  of  the  cold  in  that  elevated  region.  According  to  the 
doctrine  of  gravitation  it  has  ascended  because  it  was  filled 
with  hydrogen  gas — the  lightest  substance  in  nature — and 
every  light  substance  floats  upon  any  other  substance  heavier 
than  itself. 

Now,  let  us  see  what  actually  takes  place  in  the  balloon. 

First,  The  hydrogen  gas  is  positively  electrified,  and  is  at- 
tracted to  the  upper  atmosphere  by  its  opposite  electricity, 
which  is  negative. 

Second,  The  balloon  itself  is  painted  and  varnished  with 
gums  to  retain  the  hydrogen  gas,  which  pigments  and  varnish 
are  also  positively  electrified  and  assist  in  raising  the  balloon. 

Tltird,  The  higher  the  balloon  ascends  tho  greater  is  the  at- 
traction of  the  negative  electricity  of  the  upper  air  for  it. 

Presently  a  conjunction  of  these  opposite  electricities  of  tho 
upper  uir  and  the  positively  electrified  gummed  surface  of  the 
balloon  occurs,  heat  and  magnetism  are  evolved,  the  canvas 
of  the  balloon  begins  to  expand,  and  within  it  the  hydrogen 
gas  also  expands  to  fill  and  to  tighten  the  canvas.  The  at- 
traction from  without  and  the  expansion  of  the  hydrogen  gas 
within  distend  the  canvas  to  its  fullest  extent.  Should  tho 
ceronaut  not  at  once  open  the  safety  valve  of  the  balloon,  and 
liberate  a  portion  of  the  hydrogen  gas  within  it,  these  forces 
would  burst  the  canvas  and  precipitate  the  unlucky  aeronaut 


143 

to  the  earth,  a  catastrophe  which  really  happened  in  England 
only  a  few  days  since. 

The  ascent  of  the  balloon,  the  expansion  of  its  canvas  and 
of  the  hydrogen  gas  within  it  instead  of  their  condensation  by 
the  extreme  cold  of  the  upper  atmosphere,  the  bursting  of  the 
balloon — all  contradict  the  Newtonian  theory. 

"We  will  now  explain  why  the  temperature  on  the  surface 
of  the  earth  is  greater  during  summer,  though  the  sun  is 
then  at  its  greatest  distance  from  the  earth,  than  it  is  in 
winter,  when  the  distance  between  the  earth  and  the  sun  is  at 
the  least,  being  three  millions  of  miles  less  than  it  was  at  the 
summer  solstice — viz :  June  21st.  On  this  day  the  rays  o- 
sunlight,  vertical  at  the  tropic  ot  Cancer,  impinging  through 
the  atmosphere  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth,  with  a  velocity 
of  186,000  miles  per  second,  produce  great  friction.  This 
friction  is  the  result  of  the  impact  of  all  the  rays  of  sunlight 
upon  the  earth's  surface.  This  friction  evolves  more  elec- 
tricity in  the  contact  than  it  does  in  winter,  when  the  angle 
of  incidence  of  the  rays  of  light  is  very  much  more  acute, 
and  a  large  portion  of  the  rays  of  light  are  at  that  time 
reflected  and  refracted  into  planetary  epace,  without  develop- 
ing the  electricity  either  in  quantity  or  tension,  which  the 
whole  quantity  of  rays  of  light  would  do  if  they  reached  the 
earth  directly.  Consequently  as  the  electricity  evolved  is  lesa 
in  winter,  the  heat  which  fhia  electricity  produces  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  opposite  electricity  of  the  earth's  surface  ia  much 
less,  and  the  temperature  is  therefore  lower  in  winter  than  in 
summer. 

Besides,  the  vertical  impact  of  matter  upon  matter,  as  of  light 
upon  the  atmosphere,  or  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth,  is  always 
more  violent,  and  produces  more  friction  than  its  impact  from  an 
acute  angle,  or  as  it  is  called  a  "  glancing  blow,"  would  do, 
hence  more  electricity  results  from  the  friction  produced  by 
the  vertical  impact  of  light,  than  there  would  be  from  its  im- 
pact at  an  acute  angle.  The  declination  of  the  sun,  therefore, 
by  constantly  changing  the  angles  of  incidence  of  its  light,  as 
it  enters  our  atmosphere,  and  impinges  upon  the  earth's  sur- 
face, is  the  cause  of  the  changes  of  the  terrestrial  temperature 
at  the  several  seasons  of  the  year.  Hence  the  more  vertical 
the  light,  the  more  friction  is  developed  in  its  impact  with  the 
earth,  and  the  more  electricity  thus  evolved,  and  the  moro 
heat  produced  by  the  conjunction  of  the  opposite  electricities 
from  the  light  and  earth. 


144 

At  the  height  of  five  miles  or  more  ahove  the  earth,  when 
masses  of  clouds  oppositely  electrified  come  together,  great 
heat  is  evolved  by  the  union  of  these  electricities,  and  with  it 
is  also  developed  magnetism  ;  the  air  of  the  cloud  thus  heated 
hecomes  positively  electrified,  and  greatly  expanded  by  the 
heat,  it  rushes  upwards  attracted  by  the  negative  electricity  of 
the  atmosphere  above  it,  abandoning  the  watery  vapour  it  had 
contained  in  suspension,  and  which  absorbing  the  magnetism 
developed  by  the  union  of  the  opposite  electricities  begins  to 
fall  towards  the  earth,  not  by  gravitation  but  by  the  magnetic 
repulsion  of  the  surrounding  air,  and  the  magnetic  attraction 
of  the  earth  itself  and  the  waters  on  its  surface.  At  the  same 
time,  when  this  conjunction  of  opposite  electricities  occurs, 
much  of  the  watery  vapour  that  the  clouds  held  in  suspension 
is  decomposed  by  the  superior  attraction  of  the  intense  elec- 
tricity for  the  hydrogen  gas  of  the  water,  which  is  immediately 
burnt  in  the  oxygen  gas  that  had  been  liberated  by  the 
decomposition  of  the  watery  particles  of  the  clouds  in  the  first 
place.  This  inflamed  hydrogen  burning  with  a  yellow  light, 
rushes  to  embrace  again  its  lover,  oxygen  gas,  pursuing  it  in 
those  brilliantly  illuminated  zig-zag  courses  which  we  call 
flashes  of  lightning. 

Now  as  these  conjunctions  of  opposite  electricities  are  suc- 
cessive in  a  storm,  we  see  the  frequent  flashes  of  lightning 
and  hear  the  rolling  of  the  thunder,  (which  latter  is  merely 
the  noise  of  the  explosions  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  gases, 
when  acted  upon  by  a  current  of  electricity  passing  through 
them,)  as  they  dart  or  roll  through'  the  atmosphere.  The 
water  thus  formed,  starting  in  sheets  or  columns  as  it  may  be, 
is  at  once  disintegrated,  by  the  repulsion  of  the  magnetism 
which  it  has  absorbed,  into  atoms  or  globules,  each  of  which 
is  a  separate  magnet.  These  are  repelled  by  the  magnetism 
of  the  upper  atmosphere,  and  are  attracted  by  the  opposite 
magnetism  of  the  earth  and  its  waters,  and  continue  to  descend 
towards  the  earth,  but  the  molecules  of  atmospheric  air  are 
also  magnets,  and  repel  and  retard  the  descent  of  the  ram 
drops  as  they  fall,  and  these  forces  continue  to  dimmish  their 
,  till,  on  approaching  the  earth,  they  are  so  comminuted, 
that  frequently  thoy  become  absorbed  by  the  atmosphere  and 
appear  as  mist  and  fog. 

Now,  if  rain  falls  by  gravitation,  beginning,'at  that  great 
height  of  five  or  more  miles,  to  descend  in  the  first  second  of 
time  16.1  feet,  in  the  next  32.2  feet,  in  third  second  64.4  feet, 


145 

in  the  fourth  second  9G.6  feet,  increasing  its  velocity  IH  the 
time  of  descent  and  the  space  through  which  it  pa.-srd  as  the 
square  of  the  time,  it  would  he  found  that  its  velocity  and 
momentum,  when  it  reached  the  earth,  would  he  so  great  as 
to  wash  the  soil  iiito  the  seas,  denuding  mountains  and  dis- 
integrating rocks,  and  destroying  every  living  object  on  the 
planet.  We  see  on  a  email  scale  the  devastating  power  of  a 
waterspout  that  breaks  and  discharges  its  contents  when 
traveling  only  a  short  distance  above  the  earth.  Besides  it  is 
only  necessary  to  see  the  retardatory  effect  of  magnetism  upon 
the  flakes  of  snow  as  they  fall  lazily  to  the  earth,  each  crystal 
of  the  snow  flake,  or  frozen  water,  being  acknowledged 
magnet  endowed  with  its  full  proportion  of  magnetic  power. 

These  facts  prove  that  neither  the  clouds  that  float  in  the 
atmosphere  nor  the  waters  they  contain,  which  have  been 
taken  up  by  evaporation  from  the  rivers,  lakes  and  seas,  and 
which  are  again  returned  to  them  in  rain,  snow  and  hail,  are 
affected  by  the  so-called  laws  of  gravitation.  Conceive  for  a 
moment  that  the  volume  of  water  of  the  Niagara  river  which 
passes  over  the  falls,  should,  by  gravitation,  descend  from  a 
height  of  two,  three  or  five  miles  above  the  earth,  the  common 
height  of  clouds;  then  imagine  the  destruction  that  would 
follow  such  a  descent;  and  yet  water  from  clouds  start  in  their 
courses  towards  the  earth  in  masses  so  great  as  to  dwindle 
in  comparison  the  mighty  stream  of  Niagara  at  the  falls,  and 
jet  only  benefit  results  from  the  rainfall.  Why,  then,  does 
the  water  from  the  clouds  not  continue  to  fall,  as  it  has  started, 
in  these  enormous  masses?  It  is  because  the  Creator  lias 
beneficently  prcrvided  against  such  a  calamity  by  investing 
water  with  magnetism,  when  its  constituents,  oxygen  and 
hydrogen  gases,  are  combined  by  the  passage  of  a  current  of 
electricity  through  them,  in  the  formation  of  water,  and  the 
atoms  or  globules  of  water,  being  each  magnetic,  repel  each 
other,  and  are  repelled  from  the  upper  atmosphere — also 
magnetic — and  are  attracted  to  the  earth  by 'its  opposite  mag- 
netism, allowing  rain,  snow  and  hail  to  fall  gently  and  in 
small  particles  to  the  earth.  Hence  the  greater  the  height  of 
the  clouds  from  which  the  rain  falls,  the  smaller  and  more 
attenuated  will  be  the  rain  drops  in  arriving  at  the  earth. 
Mists  and  fogs,  therefore,  are  as  frequently  the  results  of  rain 
falling  from  very  high  clouds,  as  they  are  from  evaporation  at 
the  surface  of  the  earth  or  ocean. 

Melted  lead  on  the  top  of  a  shot  tower  is  positively  electri* 


146 

fied — the  air  around  it  negatively  electrified.  The  lead  in 
falling  repels  itself  and  is  attracted  by  the  opposite  electricity 
of  the  air,  causing  it  to  separate  and  to  assume  the  spherical 
form  of  shot  on  reaching  the  vessels  to  receive  it  at  the  bottom 
of  the  tower.  So  that  we  may  attribute  the  spherical  or 
spheroidal  forms  of  rain  drops,  of  meteors,  and  of  the  planets 
themselves,  to  the  forces  of  magnetism. 

Let  us  take  a  cast  iron  spherical  shot  of  the  calibre  of  twenty- 
four  pounds,  and  heat  it  to  a  nearly  white  heat:  then  let  us 
select  the  lightest  down  from  the  common  thistle  that  we  cau 
find;  we  will  then  shake  some  handfuls  of  it  over  the  hot  shot 
at  the  distance  of  three  feet  above  it.  It  will  be  found  that 
notwithstanding  what  is  called  the  attraction  of  gravitation, 
not  only  of  the  heavy  shot  but  also  of  the  still  heavier  earth 
on  which  it  is  supported,  the  down  will  be  carried  upwards 
into  the  atmosphere  by  the  current  of  heated  air  radiated  from 
the  hot  surface  of  the  shot,  instead  of  falling  either  upon  it  or 
on  the  earth  immediately  adjacent  to  it.  If,  therefore,  this 
d  shot  repels  some  of  the  lighest  flocculent  matter  of  which 
\ve  have  any  knowledge,  and  will  not  allow  it  to  fall  upon  the 
earth  in  opposition  to  the  radiating  power  of  its  heat,  what 
becomes  of  the  gravitation  of  the  earth  and  of  the  other  planets, 
and  of  ccmetary  matter,  &c.,  to  the  sun,  if  this  latter  is  an 
incandescent  body  of  a  temperature  so  high  that  we  cannot 
really  conceive  of  its  actual  intensity?  If  the  lightest  sub- 
stance, so-called,  cannot  be  attracted  by  it  through  such 
radiation  of  its  heat,  how  can  it  attract  the  heaviest 
planets  '<  What  also  becomes  of  its  magnetism  in  the  presence 
of  such  intensity  of  heat?  It  is  evident  that  this  great  heat 
could  not  co-exist  with  the  magnetic  forces  of  the  sun,  which 
are  thought  to  control  the  movements  of  our  solar  system. 

Let  us  observe  a  boy  on  an  August  day,  when  the  ther- 
mometer indicates  08°  of  Fahrenheit,  in  a  room  with  dosed 
doors  and  window  sashes  admit  no  disturbing  currents 

of  air,  while  he  amuses  himself  with  blowing  soap  bubbles 
from  the  bowl  of  a  clay  pipe.  When  the  bubble  is  formed, 
and  it  is  sufficiently  thin,  he  throws  it  oil'  from  the  bowl  of 
his  pipe.  The  circumference  of  the  bubble  interrupted  by  the 
bowl  of  the  pipe,  as  soon  us  it  is  detached  therefrom,  closes 
upon  itself  by  magnetic  attraction,  and  forms  a  nearly  perfect 
sphere,  while  it  ax-ends  rapidly  towards  the  ceiling  of  the  room. 
Mark  the  play  of  iridescent  colours  on  its  surface  ;is  it  rec< 
the  light  from  a  window,  just  as  the  suu  receives  the  separate 


147 

rays  of  light  from  the  stars  and  reflects  them  to  the  earth.  £c. 
Now  why  docs  this  huhble  ascend  in  the  atmosphere  ?  The 
water  and  the  sou])  of  the  bubble,  as  well  as  the  component 
parts  of  the  soap  are  each  heavier  than  the  warm  air  of  the 
room.  The  gas  that  fills  its  interior,  composed  of  vapour  and 
carbonic  acid  gas  from  the  lungs  of  the  boy,  is  also  in  its  com- 
ponents heavier  than  the  same  air,  and  is  also  probably  of  a 
lower  temperature  than  the  air,  which  is  98°  of  Fahrenheit, 
and  yet  the  bubble,  in  defiance  of  the  so-called  laws  of  gravita- 
tion, ascends  to  the  ceiling,  instead  of  descending  to  the  floor. 

If  what  astronomers  tell  us  is  correct,  the  density  of  the  sun 
is  about  one-fourth  of  that  of  the  earth,  and  cannot  relatively 
be  so  great,  volume  for  volume,  as  that  of  this  soap  bubble. 
Water  is  the  standard  measure  of  density;  potash  and  soda  in 
salts,  component  parts  of  this  soap  bubble,  have  each  a  gr 
density  than  water,  while  the  oil  associated  with  them  in  the 
soapy  water  is  perhaps  less  than  that  of  water,  while  the 
density  of  the  soapy  water  is  greater  than  that  of  the  sun. 
Now  the  earth,  with  all  its  power  of  alleged  gravitation,  could 
not  prevent  this  soap  bubble  from  ascending  in  the  air.  Xow 
why  was  this  ?  The  globules  of  soapy  water  were  held 
together  in  the  bubble  by  the  viscous  character  of  its  oily  par- 
ticles, which  having  an  opposite  electric  condition  to  that  of 
the  water,  attracted  it  to  complete  the  circumference  of  the 
bubble  when  it  was  detached  from  the  bowl  of  the  pipe,  while 
the  magnetism  of  the  whole  bubble,  repelled  by  that  of  the 
earth,  caused  it  to  ascend  into  the  upper  air  by  the  attraction 
of  the  magnetism  existing  there. 

Now  conceive  of  a  soap  bubble  1,400,000  times  greater  in 
its  dimensions  than  the  earth,  to  be  placed  in  one  of  the  foci 
of  the  earth's  orbit,  and  then  imagine  it  to  exert  its  gravitating 
power  upon  the  earth,  and  estimate  the  result.  If  the  earth 
could  not  attract  by  gravitation  this  soap  bubble  in  the  room 
referred  to,  what  power  would  the  big  soap  bubble  have  to 
attract  the  earth  by  its  gravitation,  when  their  positions  would 
be  reversed  ? 

The  undulatory  theory  of  light  is  faulty  in  this,  that  every 
wave  requires  a  resisting  medium  to  lift  it  above  the  common 
level.  In  water,  when  any  force  disturbs  its  surface,  the 
inertia  of  the  water,  against  which  the  surface  water  is  driven, 
offers  a  resistance  by  which  the  surface  water  is  raised  into  a 
wave,  but  in  all  such  cases  the  velocity  of  the  force  is  small ; 


148 

-when  the  velocity  of  the  wind,  for  instance,  is  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  per  hour,  it  carries  off  the  surface  water  into 
spray,  until  sufficient  time  has  elapsed  to  allow  the  inertia  of 
the  mass  of  water  to  resist  the  impulse  of  the  wind,  when 
waves  are  formed.  Now  if  the  ether  of  interplanetary  and 
interstellar  spaces  furnished  sucli  a  medium  of  resistance  it 
would  not  admit  of  the  passage  of  light  through  it,  with  its 
inconceivable  velocity  of  186,000  miles  per  second.  If  the 
ether  itself  was  luminous,  some  force  of  very  low  velocity  must 
impinge  upon  it  to  make  its  undulations,  and  to  be  undula- 
tions they  must  meet  with  resistance  to  become  such  ;  besides 
all  undulations  occur  on  the  surfaces  of  fluids,  and  extend  but 
a  short  distance  below  the  surfaces;  but  ether  of  space  has  no 
dimensions,  it  is  illimitable ;  no  one  can  say  where  is  its 
surface;  neither  words  nor  figures  can  define  its  depth,  width 
or  height,  and  as  all  motions  through  it  are  of  inconceivably 
high  velocities,  it  follows  that  there  can  be  no  undulations  in 
;hey  are  produced  by  low  velocities. 

.light,  on  a  bright  July  day,  falling  in  its  greatest  in- 
tensity upon  the  calm  and  placid  surface  of  an  expanse  of  water, 
penetrates  it  and  descends  to  very  great  depths  below  it, 
without  producing  the  slightest  undulation  on  its  surface,  or 
movement  within  its  masses.  Its  velocity  is  so  great  that  no 
appreciable  time  is  afforded  for  the  disturbance  of  the  inertia 
of  the  water.  So  it  is  with  the  ether  of  interstellar  and  inter- 
planetary space.  Thin,  subtle,  and  attenuated,  as  this  ether 
may  be  supposed  to  be,  the  velocity  of  light  in  passing  through 
it  is  so  transcendently  great  that  there  is  no  time  for  the  dis- 
turbance of  its  inertia,  and  consequently  its  motion  is  instantly 
absorbed  by  the  mass  of  the  ether,  without  producing  any 
undulation  whatever.  ]STow  undulation  is  a  superficial  act. 
There  is  no  wave  at  sea  of  a  greater  depth  below  the  surface 
than  forty  feet;  all  below  that  depth  is  unaffected  by  what- 

cause  that  may  have  produced  the  superficial  wave. 
The  great  Leviathan  of  the  deep,  ninety  or  one  hundred 
long  and  of  other  corresponding  dimensions,  plunges  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  ocean  when  struck  by  a  harpoon,  and  with 
inconceivable  speed  rushes  into  the  depths  below,  yet  h<-  leaves 
no  wave,  no  ripple,  to  indicate  the  course  he  has  taken,  and 
the  whalemen  in  his  pursuit  have  to  scan  the  horizon  in  every 
direction  to  ascertain  the  place,  sometimes  a  great  distance  off, 
where  he  has  risen  to  the  surface  of  the  ocean  to  blow  off  his 
surpl1  -icity  and  carbonic  acid  gas  generated  in  his 

lungs.     So  it  is  with  all  the  fishes  and  marine  animals  that 


149 

inhabit  the  great  deep.  Their  motions,  however  plow  or  swift, 
develop  no  undulations  beneath  the  surface,  and  consequently 
nono  appear  on  the  surface;  there  are,  therefore,  no  undula- 
tions below  a  depth  of  forty  feet  from  the  surface. 

Geographers  inform  us  that  three-fourths  of  the  outer  crust 
of  the  earth  are  covered  by  water,  only  one-fourth  being  drv 
land.  Of  this  fourth  part  but  a  small  portion  is  habitable  by 
animals,  and  a  still  smaller  part  thereof  is  actually  occupied 
by  them,  while  the  waters  of  the  earth  are  teeming  everv- 
where  with  animal  life.  Innumerable  myriads  of  fishes,  marine 
animals,  and  sea  monsters  are  known  to  exist  beneath  the 
surface  of  these  waters;  their  speed  in  pursuing  or  avoiding 
each  other,  as  they  rush  madly  through  them,  should  greatly 
disturb  their  even  surfaces,  but  whatever  agitations  may  occur 
in  the  depths  of  the  ocean  from  these  causes,  no  trace  of  them 
ever  is  seen  on  its  surface;  there  is  no  undulation  from  such 
causes.  "Why?  The  reason  is  obvious.  Fluids  press  equally 
in  all  directions.  The  inertia  of  the  great  mass  of  waters  is 
not  to  be  disturbed  by  the  passage  of  even  innumerable 
objects  of  small  dimensions  at  whatever  speed  they  may  attain. 
The  same  principle  obtains  in  relation  to  the  ether  of  planetary 
space.  This  planet  rolling  in  its  orbit  with  a  velocity  of  sixty- 
eight  thousand  miles  per  hour,  through  this  ether,  does  not 
and  cannot  disturb  the  inertia  of  the  whole  ether  of  space;  the 
motion  of  the  part  displaced  by  the  earth  and  its  atmosphere 
is  absorbed  at  once  by  the  whole  mass,  and  its  inertia  remains 
unaffected ;  and  so  it  is  with  all  the  planets,  and  even  the  sun 
itself.  The  sun's  motion  in  its  orbit  being  14,400  miles  per 
hour,  the  moon  advancing  in  her  orbit  at  the  rate  of  65,000 
miles  per  hour,  and  so  on  with  the  rest  of  the  planets,  their 
enormous  velocities  will  not  admit  of  the  disturbance  of  the 
inertia  of  the  ether  of  space  before  the  planet  has  left  the  ether 
far  behind  through  which  it  has  passed.  The  retardation  of 
cometary  matter  in  its  course  is  not  due  to  the  resistance  of  the 
ether  through  which  it  is  passing,  for  if  it  was  it  would  be 
uniformly  and  continuously  retarded  in  its  whole  course,  and 
not  merely  as  it  is  approaching  or  leaving  the  neighborhood 
of  the  sun,  but  it  is  owing  to  the  magnetism  of  the  sun  and 
the  planets,  as  well  as  of  the  opposite  magnetism  of  the  ether 
acting  upon  its  own  magnetism,  that  such  variation  in  its 
velocity  has  been  observed.  This  reminds  me,  that  when  a 
planet  is  at  its  nearest  point  to  the  sun,  it  is  moving  with  its 
greatest  rapidity  in  its  orbit ;  and  when  at  its  remotest  point 
from  the  sun,  it  is  proceeding  at  its  slowest  rate  of  speed  in  its 


150 

orbit;  but  yet  the  orbit  tbrougbout  its  entire  course  is  so 
balanced  that  the  rapidity  is  exactly  proportional  to  the  near- 
ness, and  the  slowness  to  the  distance  in  reference  to  each,  so 
that  equal  areas  of  the  space  included  in  the  orbit  are  described 
by  the  planet  in  equal  times,  which  is  Kepler's  celebrated 
second  law. 

The  friction  of  the  atmosphere  with  the  ether  in  its  passage 
through  it  evolves  negative  electricity,  which  is  takenup  by  the 
atmosphere  by  induction,  and  thus  it  becomes  negatively  electri- 
fied. If  the  planets  cannot,  in  their  rotation  around  the  sun  and 
on  their  respective  axes,  disturb  the  ether  of  space  in  its  inertia, 
how  can  it  be  supposed  that  rays  of  light  passing  through  it 
with  its  velocity  of  186,000  miles  per  second,  can  cause  it  to 
undulate  ?  Time  is  an  element  in  the  production  of  a  wave, 
and  in  tbe  passage  of  light  through  ether  there  is  not  time 
enough,  to  resist  the  passage  of  light,  in  order  to  produce  it. 
A  musket  ball  with  the  initial  velocity  of  1500  feet  per  second, 
when  shot  from  a  musket  will  perforate  a  door  hanging  on  its 
hinges  without  moving  it,  as  there  is  not  furnished  sufficient 
time  to  disturb  its  inertia  before  the  ball  had  passed  through 
the  door.  So  in  like  manner  a  tallow  candle  discharged  from 
a  musket  will  pass  through  a  door  without  disturbing  its 
position,  while  if  it  should  be  thrown  from  the  hand  against 
the  door  at  tho  distance  of  ten  feet  from  it,  its  momentum  at 
such  low  velocity  would  push  the  door  back  to  its  frame. 

Rays  of  sunlight,  in  passing  through  the  ether  of  space, 
carry  with  them  the  negative  electricity  with  which  they  were 
repelled  from  the  sun's  photosphere,  and  continue  to  be 
repelled  by  the  negative  electricity  of  the  intensely  cold 
ether  itself  through  whieh  they  are  passing.  Now  intorjn.se 
a  glass  prism  to  thopas.-age  of  a  beam  of  this  sunlight  after 
it  has  reaehed  u^  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  This  white; 
i  of  light  idthen  refracted  and  decomposed,  and  each  colour 
s  the  prism,  diverging  not  only  from  the  original  r; 
white  light  of  which  they  are  the  elements,  hut  also  fro,;-/ 
ofliiT,  as  may  be  seen  by  observing  the  spectrum  which  they 
form.  This  pj.oetrum  exhibits  these  colours  in  the  order  of 
their  susceptibility  of  refraction,  the  red  being  refr; 

and  the   violet  most.     From  its  appearance,   Sir  Jsaac 

ton,    who   first   analyzed     it,    thought   that    there    were 

actually  seven  primary  or  distinct  colours  in  the  composition 

of  light,  but  since  his  day  investigation  and   analysis    have 

determined   that  there  are  but  three   primary  colours,  viz  : 


151 

red,  yellow  and  blue,  and  that  the  orange,  green,  indigo  and 
violet,  result  from  a  commingling  of  the  primary  colours  in 
different  degrees  of  intensity,  as  they  form  the  spectrum. 
Now,  let  us  sot.-  wha'  this  refraction  and  decomposition 

of  light  by  the  prism.     The  glass  prism  was  positively  electri- 
fied when  the  sunbeam  was  thrown  upon  it;   the    op: 
electricities   of  the   light   and   the   glas3  were  brought   into 
contact ;  heat  and  magnetism  were  evolved  by  their  union  ; 
the  glass  was  expanded  by  the  heat,  which  was  immediately 
absorbed  by  the  air  ;  the  rays  of  light,  changing  their  electri- 
cities by  induction,  become  positively  electrified  and  magnetic 
and  repel  each  other,  forming  Newton's  seven  primary  rays, 
according  to  the  different  degrees  of  positive  electrization  and 
magnetization   they  have   absorbed.     This   explanation    will 
also  account  for  the  invisible  heat  rays  outside  of  the  spectrum, 
which  by  some  philosophers  have  been  erroneously  supposed 
to  have  come  directly  from  the  sun,  associated  with  its  light. 
Again,  let  us  take  two  pieces  of  flannel  made  of  wool,  of  the 
same  texture  and  size ;  let  one  of  them  be  white  flannel,  the 
other  black  flannel.     Now  white  flannel  has  the  same  electri- 
cal condition  as  white  sunlight,  that  is,  negative.    It   conse- 
quently reflects  or  repels  the  sunlight,  according  to  electrical 
laws.     For  this  effect  it  is  extensively  used  by  the  people  of  hot 
countries  for  articles  of  outside  clothing  to  keep  them  cool 
during   sunshine.      Suppose  we   place   these  two    pieces   of 
flannel,  in  the  winter   time,  on  the  snow,  one  hundred  feet 
apart,  the  temperature  of  the  air  being  at  zero  of  Fahrenheit, 
and  the  sun  shining  brilliantly  through  a  clear  atmosphere, 
and  let  us  watch  the  effect.     In  a  little  while  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  piece  of  white  flannel  is  frozen  tight  to  the  snow, 
while  the  black  flannel,  having  absorbed  all  the  rays  of  the 
sunlight  from  its   opposite   electrical  condition,  has  become 
heated  by  the  development  of  the  heat  from  the  union  of  these 
opposite  electricites,  and  the  snow  has  become  melted  under 
the  black  flannel.     This  experiment  proves  that  heat  is  the 
result  of  the  union  of  opposite  electricities  as  in  the  associated 
primary   rays  of  light,  for  the  material  composing  the  two 
pieces  of  flannel  was  similar,  while  the  negatively  electrified 
white  flannel  repelled  the  negative  white  sunlight,  absorbing 
the  cold  of  the  snow  beneath  and  becoming  frozen  to  it,  as 
the  positively  electrified  black  flannel  attracted  the  negatively 
electrified  white  sunlight  developing  the  heat  which  melted 
the  snow.     Now  as  every  object  in  nature  has  a  colour  of  some 
kind,    when    the  sunlight  falls  upon  it,   we  can  understand 
that  the  variations  of  temperature  on  the  surface  of  the  earth, 


152 

are  the  immediate  results  of  electrical  action  upon  it  by  the 
rays  of  light  as  light  and  not  by  rays  of  heat  from  the  sun. 

"We  have  thus  shown  you,  that  from  the  attributes  of  heat, 
it  is  physically  impossible  for  it  to  be  transmitted  to  this  or 
any  other  planet  from  the  sun  through  an  almost  infinite  space 
of  ether  at  a  temperature  of  — 142°  of  centigrade  thermometer. 

"We  have  shown  you  that  the  negative  electricity  of  our 
atmosphere  is  derived  by  induction  from  this  very  cold  e 
in  the  rotation  of  the  earth  on  its  axis,  and  in  its  motions  in 
its  orbit,  carrying  with  it  its  atmosphere  in  its  course. 

"We  have  shown  you  that  the  atmosphere  is  held  in  its  place 
around  the  earth  by  its  magnetism  and  dia-magnetism,  which 
have  been  developed  by  currents  of  opposite  electricities  in 
conjunction,  produced  by  the  passage  of  rays  of  light  through 
the  atmosphere,  evolving  by  their  friction  with  it  electricity 
of  one  kind,  while  the  opposite  kind  of  electricity  has  been 
produced  by  the  impact  of  rays  of  light  upon  the  more  solid 
parts  of  the  earth's  crust  and  upon  its  waters  as  it  developed 
their  evaporation. 

"We  have  shown  that  the  attraction  of  matter  on  or  above  the 
earth,  is  through  magnetism  to  the  poles  opposite  respectively 
to  the  hemispheres  of  the  earth,  that  it  is  confined  to  the  crust 
of  the  earth,  and  that  it  is  not  the  attraction  of  gravitation. 

"We  have  shown  that  the  upward  pressure  of  all  fluids,  from 
capillary  attraction  in  tubes  to  the  upward  pressure  of  the 
waters  of  the  ocean  that  float  the  tonnage  of  the  world,  to  that 
of  the  atmosphere  which  holds  it  suspended  above  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  is  strictly  magnetic.  "We  have  shown  that  the 
variations  of  the  barometer  at  the  level  of  the  sea  ar. 

•d  by  the  varying  weight  of  the  atmosphere,  but  by 
condition,  as  those  of  the  thermometer  are  pro- 
1    l>y  currents  of  electricity,   which  permeate  the  glass 
tubes  that  contain  the  thermometric  fluid, 

"We  have  shown  that  all  terrestrial  heat  is  derived  from  the 
conjunction  of  opposite  electricities,  whether  proceeding  from 
the  combustion  of  inflammable  substances,  from  friction,  or 
Irom  the  contact  of  currents  of  air  or  of  gases  oppositely  elec- 

tril; 

We  have  shown  that  friction  of  substances  of  low  tempera- 
tures produces  negative  electricity,  and  increases  the  cold  by 


153 

their  union,  illustrated  by  two  blocks  of  ice  nil,'  -thcr 

and  uniting  more  firmly  at  their  junction  than  in  anv  < 
of  their  parts.  And  then  we  have  shown  that  positive  elec- 
tricity is  always  associated  with  heat,  and  the  opposite  elec- 
tricity with  cold;  that  their  conjunction  produces  heat  or  cold 
according  as  one  or  the  other  of  the  electricities  predominates 
at  the  moment  of  their  union;  that  magnetism  is  also  evolved 
by  their  conjunction,  and  that  if  much  heat  is  developed,  the 
magnetism  disappears  and  takes  refuge  in  the  nearest  greater 
cold;  that  magnetism  is  therefore  the  antagonist  of  heat,  and 
is  found  in  its  greatest  intensity  in  extreme  cold,  in  the 
highest  part  of  the  atmosphere,  and  in  the  Arctic  and  Antarc- 
tic regions. 

If  the  atomic  theory  be  true,  and  the  atoms  of  ether  be 
spheres  or  oblate  spheroids,  we  may  imagine  that  light  passing 
in  rays  through  the  intensely  cold  ether,  develops  negative 
electricity  by  its  friction  with  the  ether,  and  that  this  nega- 
tive electricity  resides  in  the  interstitial  spaces  between  the 
atoms  of  the  ether  until  attracted  by  positive  electricity  of 
greater  or  lesser  volume  and  tension,  their  conjunction  would 
produce  magnetism  which  would  find  a  habitat  among  these 
interstitial  spaces  of  the  atoms  of  ether  in  the  poles  of  the 
atoms  themselves. 

From  tne  mobility  of  the  particles  of  fluids,  whether  liquid 
or  gaseous,  it  appears  that  their  tendency  is  to  move  in  spiral 
curves.  In  the  currents  of  ocean,  sea,  lake  or  river  waters, 
the  frequency  of  their  curved  direction  is  everywhere  manifest, 
any  obstruction  to  the  general  direction  of  their  currents, 
whether  superficial,  or  at  varying  depths  below  the  surface,  is 
eufiicient  to  determine  them  into  spiral  curves  of  greater  or 
lesser  curvatures.  It  would  seem  that  this  attribute  of  fluids 
was  intended  by  the  Creator  for  the  evolution  of  currents  of 
electricity  by  the  friction  of  these  particles  of  the  inner  curves 
of  the  spirals,  and  of  magnetism  by  the  passage  of  this  electri- 
city along  the  spirals  of  the  fluids  themselves.  This  is  an 
origin  of  magnetism,  as  well  in  the  waters  as  in  the  atmos- 
phere. The  great  currents  of  the  ocean,  sweeping  in  curves 
greater  than  a  great  circle  of  the  earth  itself,  are  only  elements 
of  immense  spirals.  The  circular  motion  of  an  infusion  of 
tea  in  a  cup  when  stirred  by  a  spoon  to  hasten  the  solution  of 
the  accompanying  sugar,  is  but  an  illustration  of  the  same 
principle,  and  so  it  is  with  gaseous  fluids.  The  tiny  whirlwind 
that  raises  the  dust  in  summer  in  our  country  roads,  is  but  a 


154 

type  of  the  currents  of  atmospheric  air,  from  the  gentle  breeze 
that  fans  us  in  the  summer  heats  to  the  tornado,  hurricane, 
and  mighty  cyclone  that  desolate  the  oceans  and  islands  in 
intertropical  regions.  This  form,  therefore,  in  which  these 
fluids  are  continually  moving,  is  among  the  means  adopted  by 
the  Creator  to  develop  electricity,  magnetism  and  heat,  on 
and  above  the  surface  of  our  planet. 

"  Let  us  for  a  moment  consider  the  action  of  the  two  great 
currents  of  warm  water  on  the  opposite  coasts  of  North 
America.  The  Gulf  Stream  and  the  Japanese  current  through 
P>chring's  Straits  to  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Let  us  consider  the 
Gulf  Stream.  On  the  Equator,  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  the 
mean  temperature  of  the  surface  of  the  sea,  according  to 
Kaiutz,  is  78.6°,  the  average  maximum  in  latitude  6°  north  is 
80.3°,  the  highest  observed  temperature  in  3°  1',  north, 
according  to  Kotzebue,  84.6°,  and  the  mean  temperature  of 
the  sea  between  the  parallels  of  3°  north  and  3°  south,  accord- 
ing to  Humboldt,  was  from  80.1°  to  82.4°.  The  mean  tempera- 
ture of  the  air  in  the  equatorial  belt  of  the  Atlantic  (  > 
between  10°  north  and  10°  south,  according  to  Lentz,  is  73.8°. 
Here  you  have  the  surface  water  of  the  ocean  in  the 
Equatorial  belt  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  hotter  by  3.8°  than  air 
just  above  it.  NowT,  if  these  respective  temperatures  were 
produced  by  emanations  of  heat  from  the  sun,  their  condition 
of  temperature  should  be  reversed,  the  capacity  of  the  air  to 
absorb  heat  being  so  much  greater  than  that  of  water.  This 
fact  proves  that,  it  is  not  solar  heat  that  produces  the  tempera- 
ture either  in  the  air  or  water. 

"In  July,  the  course  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  in  latitude  38° 
north,  shows  the  form  of  a  tongue  ot  temperature!  of  81.5°, 
(at  some  places  even  ,S4 'J  was  observed.)  This  hot  stream  pro- 
itself  as  a  double  tongue,  with  a  mean  temperature  of 
from  77°  to  81.5°  of  Fahrenheit,  (20°  to  ±1  of  Reaumur,)  to- 
wards the  north  as  far  as  the  40°  of  latitude,  and  towards 
the  east  to  the  43°  of  longitude  west  of  Greenwich,  that  is, 
far  beyond  Newfoundland.  In  January,  the  tongue  of  77° 
of  Fahrenheit,  (iiO°  of  Reaumur,)  reaches  to  latitude  37°  north 
and  longitude  7(>°  30'  west,  ami  at  the  place  where  the  east 
end  of  this  tongue  of  77  of  Fahrenheit  terminates  in  July, 
we  find  in  .January  a  temperature  of  Gi!.5°  and  62.8°  of  Fah- 
renheit, (14°  ami  i-V  of  Reaumur.) 

"  Up  to  the  meridian  of  the  eastern  end  of  Newfoundland, 
the  Gulf  Stream  proceeds  first  in  an  east  northeast,  ami  then 
in  an  east  direction  parallel  to  the  American  coast,  with  an 


155 

average  temperature  in  July  of  77°  to  83.8°  Fahn-ii/ 

to  23°  Reaumur,)  and  in  January,  of  68°  to  77     Falm-nla-it, 

(16°  to  23°   Reaumur.)     The  highest  temperature  oft: 

in  Africa  in  the  same  parallel  of  latitude  in  January,  is  only 

59°. 

"At  Newfoundland,  the  Gulf  Stream  comes  in  violent  colli- 
sion with  the  Polar  Stream  of  Labrador,  which  nearly  at  a 
right  angle  sets  against  and  penetrates  into  it  like  an  immense 
wedge.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the  Grand  Bank  it  is  so 
powerful  that,  according  to  the  surface  isotherms,  it  pene- 
trates into  the  Gulf  Stream  from  150  to  200  miles  southward 
of  its  general  limits,  and  therefore  entirely  intersects  the 
surface  waters  of  the  easterly  stream  for  that  breadth,  which 
is  the  most  important  part  of  its  course.  The  Gulf  Stream, 
300  miles  northeast  of  Newfoundland  bank,  after  having 
passed  beyond  this  polar  current,  is  warmer  than  it  is  south  of 
it.  The  influence  of  the  temperature  of  this  polar  steam  is 
less  in  January  than  in  July.  380  miles  eastward  of  Xewfound- 
land,  on  the  50°  of  north  latitude,  the  .Gulf  Stream  has  a 
surface  temperature  of  68°  Fahrenheit  in  July,  while  in 
January,  the  G-ulf  Stream  on  the  50°  degree  of  north  latitude 
has  a  temperature  of  54.5°  Fahrenheit;  the  thermometer 
shows  at  the  same  time  at  Prague,  or  at  Ratibor,  (in  SiK-sia.) 
on  the  same  parallel  of  latitude,  temperatures  of  minus  24°, 
and  sometimes  still  hnver  ones.  The  isothermal  line  of  54.5° 
Fahrenheit,  (10°  of  Reaumur,)  runs  up  in  July  towards 
Iceland  and  the  Faroe  Islands  to  the  61°  of  north  latitude. 
There  it  meets  for  the  second  time  the  polar  stream  which  on 
the  east  coast  of  Iceland  again  threatens  to  block  up  its  way 
and  to  destroy  it.  la  Julv,  temperatures  were  observed  on 
the  north  coast  of  Iceland  of  45°,  47°  and  49.3°,  (by  Lord 
Dufferin,  46°,)  while  oft1  the  cast  coast  for  six  degrees  of  longi- 
tude, none  higher  than  from  40°  to  42.6°  were  found. 

"According  to  Irminger's  data,  and  Lord  Dufferin's  observa- 
tions, the  Gulf  Stream  setting  towards  the  north  preponderates 
in  Julv  on  the  north  and  west  coasts  of  Iceland,  but  on  the 
east  and  south  coasts  the  polar  stream  coming  from  the  direc- 
tion of  Jan  Mayeu. 

"  Between  Iceland  and  the  Faroe  Islands,  the  Gulf  and  polar 
streams  are  contending  against  each  other,  and  the  result  of 
this  struggle  is  a  sea  divided  into  a  great  number  of  hot  and 
cold  bands,  which  fact  is  demonstrated  clearly  by  Lord  Duf- 
ferin's cruise  from  Stornoway  to  Reikiavik  in  1856,  and  fully 
corroborated  by  Wallich  in  the  Bull  Dog  Expedition  of  1860. 


156 

"  The  fact  that  the  two  streams  in  their  contest  appear  as 
many  bauds  and  strata  alongside,  over  and  beneath  each  other, 
is  proved  iu>t  only  by  the  observations  of  the  temperature  of 
the  surface  of  the  sea  by  Irminger  and  Dufr'erin,  but  also  by 
the  researches  of  "Wallich  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  bot- 
tom of  the  sea.  The  latter  found  there  volcanic  stones  point- 
ing as  to  their  origin  to  Jan  Mayen,  and  at  other  plan's 
ophiocomte  of  two  to  five  inches  in  length  which  could  have 
bee  i  carried  there  only  by  the  warm  Gulf  Stream.  Besides,  the 
drift  ice  penetrates  here  further  to  the  south  than  anywhere 
else  east  of  Iceland.  *  *  *  *  But  here  the  Gulf  Stream 
comes  away  equally  intact  from  its  struggle  with  the  polar 
etream  as  at  Newfoundland.  We  now  know  its  further 
course  in  the  summer  from  many  direct  observations  as  far 
north  as  Spitzbergen  and  Nova  Zembla,and  beyond  the  80°  of 
north  latitude. 

"  The  mild  winter  of  the  British  Isles  is  well  known.  The 
mean  temperature  for  January  in  London  is  37.4°;  at  Edin- 
burgh the  same  ;  at  Dublin  40.5°.  The  further  we  go  from 
east  to  west  or  from  south  to  north,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
nearer  to  the  Gulf  Stream,  the  higher  we  find  the  temperature. 
At  Unst,  on  one  of  the  Shetland  Islands,  560  miles  north  from 
London,  the  mean  temperature  of  the  air  in  January  is  40.3% 
and  that  of  the  sea  45.5°,  (East  Yell.)  The  warm  current 
of  the  sea  is  tempering  the  air.  The  lowest  temperature 
observed  in  London  was  — 5°,  at  Penzance  on  the  west  coast, 
-jiM.l0,  at  Sandwick  on  the  Orkney  Islands  +15.8°,  at  Madrid 
-f  I.'»..'>°  has  been  observed,  and  -f-27.5°  at  Algiers,  which 
provides  Europe  with  cauliflowers  in  winter. 

"  On  the  morning  of  Feb.  8,  1870,  the  telegraph  announced 
the  temperature  at  .Ratibor,  (in  Silesia,)  to  be  — 2">. 4°,  while 
northwest  of  it,  atBreslau,  it  was — 13°,  at  Berlin — 0.4°,  at 
-f  10.6°,  and  at  Christiansand,  on  the  south  of  Norway,  8°  of 
latitude  north  of  Ratibor, +  30.7°.  So  high  a  temperature 
would  be  impossible  in  Xorway  if  tho  winds  did  not  bring  it 
from  the  high  temperature  of  the  Gulf  Stream  to  the  westward. 

"Many  persons  suppose  because  the  summer  in  Iceland  is 

rough  and  cold  that  the  winter  must  be  dreadful  in  !H  severity 

•Id,  but  exactly  the  contrary  is  the  case.     J)r.  Ilend< 

-.  i  hat  'I  really  shuddered  at  the  thought  of  livingthrough 

the  winter  in  Iceland.     How  greatly  was  J  astonished  when  I 

found   the   temperature   not   only  higher  than  in  Denmark,. 


157 

where  I  had  been  during  the  preceding  winter,  hut  also  that 
the  winter  in  Iceland  was  by  no  means  mon  than  the 

mildest  winter  which  I  hud  ever  known  in  Denmark  and 
Sweden.'  Sheep  and  horses  have  to  take  care  of  themselves 
during  the  entire  year  in  Iceland;  only  cattle  and  the  more 
valuable  saddle  horses  are  led  in  the  stable  during  winter. 
How  impossible  would  it  be  in  Germany  to  leave  any  don. 
animal  in  midwinter  without  shelter  even  for  a  i'ew'days  onlv. 
The  lakes  near  Reikiavik,  in  Iceland,  are  frozen  in  many 
winters  not  more  than  two  inches  thick,  very  rarely  to  eigh- 
teen inches.  The  lowest  temperature  of  the  air  experienced 
there  during  thirteen  years  was  only  +  3.9°. 

"It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  such  is  the  case,  because 
the  warm  Gulf  Stream  provides  Iceland  with  heat.  Its  mean 
temperature  there  is,  even  in  January,  34.7°  above  zero,  and 
the  lowest  temperature  noted  during  twenty  years  was  only  28.6°. 
Iceland  is  situated  close  to  the  Arctic  circle,  and  in  the  lati- 
tude of  Siberia. 

"  "While  on  the  western  side  of  the  north  Atlantic  ocean,  the 
polar  ice  reaches  down  to  latitude  36°  north,  (the  parallel  of 
Gibraltar  and  Malta,)  and  the  name  Labrador  is  sufficient  to 
characterize  the  climatic  qualities  of  all  the  land  between  50° 
and  60°  north,  there  exists  on  the  east  side  of  the  ocean  along  the 
Norwegian  coast  cultivated  land  up  to  71°  north,  the  northern- 
most land  of  the  world,  in  which,  under  the  influence  of  the 
Gulf  Stream,  agriculture  is  the  main  occupation  of  the  inhabi- 
tants. Wheat  is  grown  up  to  Inderoen,  in  latitude  64°  north ; 
barley  up  to  Alten,in  70°  north,  where  sowing  generally  is  done 
between  the  20th  and  25th  of  June,  yielding  in  the  short  space 
of  eight  weeks,  to  the  20th  or  30th  of  August,  in  the  average 
six  or  seven  fold ;  the  potato  yields  at  the  same  place  on  the 
average  seven  or  eight  fold,  in  favourable  seasons  even  twelve 
to  fifteen  fold ;  it  thrives  on  the  coast  as  far  east  as  Yadso,  on  the 
Russian  boundary  line.  At  Alten  (70°  north)relishable  cauli- 
flower is  raised  even  in  less  favourable  summers.  Where 
washed  by  the  polar  current,  there  are,  as  shown  by  the  various 
Franklin  expeditions,  under  70°  north,  but  desolate  ice  deserts 
without  any  cultivation.  There  is  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
ocean  .the  flourishing  and  busy  little  town  of  Hauimerfest, 
where  only  once  the  temperature  has  been  as  low  as  +5°  and 
generally  is  not  less  than  9.5°,  while  on  the  western  side  of 
the  ocean  there  are  only  the  poor  snow  huts  of  the  Esquimaux 
in  70°  north. 


158 

TVTiile  Germany  has  to  suffer  the  frigid  air  of  — 24°,  and 
sometimes  more  intense  cold  iu  winter,  at  that  same  time 
Norway  gathers  a  rich  harvest  under  the  Arctic  circle,  not 
from  its  acres,  but  in  the  warm  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  as 
for  instance  at  Ansvaer,  in  the  direction  of  the  vortex  of  the 
Gulf  Stream  ;  there  the  herring  makes  its  appearance  about  the 
•  10th  day  of  December,  remaining  until  the  first  days  of  Janu- 
ary, and  then  about  10.000  people  congregate,  and  haul  about 
200,000  tons  of  these  fish  of  a  value  of  more  than  one  million 
of  dollars." 

The  warmer  air  of  the  land  near  large  bodies  of  water, 
whether  of  lakes,  seas  or  oceans,  is  due  to  the  difference  of 
temperatures  between  that  of  the  atmosphere  and  that  of  the 
waters,  which  being  in  contact  at  the  surface  develops  one 
kind  of  electricity,  which  meeting  with  the  opposite  electricity 
of  the  air  evolves -heat  and  renders  the  climate  of  such  localities 
mild,  healthful  and  agreeable. 

"  East  of  the  North  Cape,  distant  from  it  about  120  nautical 
miles  at  Vardoe,  the  temperature  of  January  is  -f-18.5° ; 
while  at  St.  Petersburg,  620  miles  south  of  the  former,  it  is 
-j-15.10,  or  3.4°  colder.  But  the  most  important  fact,  testify- 
ing to  the  existence  and  the  great  volume  of  the  Gulf  Stream 
at  the  North  Cape,  appears  to  me  to  be  the  temperature  of  the 
sea  at  Fruholm,  which  in  January  is  in  the  mean  still  +37.9°. 
Fruholm  is  on  the  same  parallel  ot  latitude  as  Ust-Jansk,  lati- 
tude 70°  55'  north,  in  Siberia,  and  Point  Barrow,  in  North 
•iea.  The  former  has  a  mean  temperature  in  January,  of 
—38.6°,  the  latter  of  —18.6°.  Me  ran,  in  Tyrol,  of  world 
wide  celebrity,  on  account  of  its  mild  and  temperate  air, 
r  to  the  equator  by  24 J°,  has  in  January  a  temperature 
of  the  air  of  31.8°,  Venice,  36.3°,  Vevay,  33.1°,  Paris 
35.4°,  New  York,  29.5°,  Washington,  31.5°." 

We  will  not  pursue  this  subject  of  the  surface  temperature 
of  the  Gulf  Stream  to  its  ultimate  northern  development,  but 

we  will  turn  our  attention  to  the  temperature  of  the  Gulf 
in,  at  its  various  depths  in  its  course,  as  well  as  of  the 
eea  itself. 

"North  of  the  isothermal  line  of  39.4°,  (3.3°  of  Reaumur,) 
toward  the  pole,  the  temperature  generally  increases  with  the 
depth,  while  southward,  toward  the  equator,  it  decreases. 
There  is,  however,  no  uniformity  in  this,  as  Lieutenant 
Kodgers,  in  ]*.").">,  found  in  the  Asiatic  part  of  the  Arctic  Ocean 
there  is  on  the  surface  a  warm  current,  with  water  of  a  low 


159 

specific  gravity,  beneath  it  a  cold  current,  and  then  again  a 
warm  current  of  heavier  water,  and  all  these  strata  running 
in  opposite  directions. 

"  In  entering  upon  the  question  of  temperature  of  sea  water 

at  diU'erent  depths,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  water  is 
densest  at  a  temperature  of  39.2°,  and  that  it  arranges  itself 
in  the  various  depths  according  to  the  specific  gravity  in 
strata,  either  above  and  beneath,  or"  alcngside  each  other. 
From  the  place  where  the  sea  shows  at  the  surface  a  tempera- 
ture of  39.2°,  it  will  lose  in  temperature  toward  the  pole, 
while  in  general,  it  will  gain  with  the  increase  of  depth,  but 
toward  the  equator  the  temperature  of  the  surface  will  increase 
while  it  will  decrease  downward  in  proportion. 

"  Parry,  in  latitude  57°  51'  north,  longitude  41°  05'  west  of 
Greenwich,  on  June  13th,  1819,  observed  the  sea  to  have  a 
temperature  on  .the  surface  of  40.5°,  and  at  a  depth  of  1410 
feet,  in  the  Gulf  Stream,  130  nautical  miles  southeast  of  Cape 
Farewell,  a  temperature  of  39°.  140  miles  northeast  of  this 
place,  in  latitude  59°  35'  north,  longitude  38°  5'  west  of 
Greenwich,  Captain  Kundsen,  on  the  30th  of  June,  1859,  found 
the  temperature  of  the  surface  44.6°,  and  at  the  depth  of  1800 
feet,  43.4°,  which  corresponds  with  Parry's  measurements. 

"  Wallick  remarks  that  on  the  parallel  of  latitude  63°  north, 
not  far  from  the  south  coast  of  Iceland,  the  temperatures  on  the 
surface,  and  at  a  depth  of  600  feet,  differ  in  the  average  not 
more  than  3.8°,  and  that  consequently  the  Gulf  Stream  does 
not  essentially  lose  in  temperature  to  that  depth. 

"  On  Irminger's  chart  of  the  currents  and  ice  drifts  around 
Iceland,  there  is,  in  Brede  Bugt,  (Broad  Bay,)  in  latitude  65° 
17'  north,  longitude  23°  25'  west  of  Greenwich,  a  temperature 
recorded  of  46°  at  the  surface,  and  of  45.5°  at  a  depth  of  300 
feet,  showing  that  the  Gulf  Stream  at  this  place  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Polar  Circle  has  lost  in  that  depth  only  .5  of  a  degree 
of  temperature. 

"  Scoresby  remarks,  *  that  the  temperature  of  the  sea  near 
Spitzbergen  is  six  or  seven  degrees  warmer  at  the  depth  of 
from  600  feet  to  1200  feet  than  it  is  at  the  surface.' 

"  From  the  results  obtained  by  the  British  Sounding  Expedi- 
tion, from  May  31st  to  September  7th,  1869,  in  the  North 
Atlantic  Ocean,  between  the  Faroe  Islands  and  Spain,  it 


1GO 

appears  that  the  Gulf  Stream  has,  between  Ireland  and  Spain, 
a  depth  of  900  fathoms  or  5400  feet,  and  equally  as  much  iuiar 
the  Rockall  rock,  west  of  the  Hebrides.  Between  Rockall 
and  the  Faroe  Islands,  near  the  parallel  of  latitude  60°  north, 
it  reaches  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  which  has  a  depth  there  of 
707  fathoms,  or  4UOJ  feet,  and  at  that  depth  the  Gulf  Stream 
has  still  a  temperature  of  41.5°.  It  has  also  been  found  that 
an  Antarctic  current  of  cold  water,  directly  over  the  bottom  of 
the  sea  clear  up  to  the  Irish  and  Scottish  coasts,  exists,  meeting 
there  an  Arctic  stream.  In  the  notes  of  Professor  Thomson, 
the  stratum  at  Rockall,  from  900  to  1400  fathoms  below  the 
surface,  is  designated  as  cold  indraught,  Arctic  and  Antarctic, 
" (temperature  39.2°  to  37.4°,)  and  the  stratum  between  900 
and  2435  fathoms,  between  Ireland  and  Spain,  as  indraught  " 
of  cold  water,  probably  mainly  Antarctic,  (temperature  39.2° 
to  36.5°.) 

"  It  is  demonstrated  by  figures  and  facts,  that  the  hot  source 
and  core  of  the  Gulf  Stream  extends  from  the  straits  of 
Florida  along  the  North  American  coast  at  all  times,  day  and 
night,  in  winter  as  in  summer,  even  in  January,  with  a 
temperature  of  77°  and  more,  up  to  the  37°  of  north  latitude, 
while  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  latitude  in  Tunis,  in. 
Africa,  the  temperature  of  the  air  is  but  53.4°.  The  Gulf 
Stream  transports  and  develops  still  in  this  latitude  a  higher 
temperature  than  either  water  or  air  possesses  in  the  Atlantic 
ocean,  even  under  the  equator,  on  which  neither  in  July  nor 
in  January  the  temperature  is  ever  as  high  as  that  of  the  Gulf 
Stream  in  latitude  37°  north. 

•'  Tnder  the  37°  and  38°  of  northern  latitude,  the  hot  core  of 
the  Gulf  Stream  turns  away  from  the  American  coast  towards 
the  east  beyond  the  meridian  of  Newfoundland  and  its  bank 
to  40°  of  longitude  west  of  Greenwich,  where  it  still  possesses 
a  temperature  in  July  of  about  75°,  and  in  January  of  about 
G6°.  From  there  it  proceeds  to  the  northeast,  diffuses  nearly 
across  the  entire  Atlantic,  and  surrounds  the  whole  of  Europe 
to  the  Arctic  region  and  the  White  Sea  of  Archangel,  with  a 
broad  and  permanent  warm  water  course,  without  which 
England  and  Germany  would  be  a  second  Labrador,  and 
Scandinavia  and  Russia  a  second  Greenland,  buried  beneath 
glaciers;  whereas,  in  Fruholm,  (71°  6'  north,)  the  sun  does 
not  rise  at  all  above  the  horizon  during  the  entire  month  of 
January,  in  a  latitude  in  which,  in  Asia  and  America,  the 
mercury  remains  frozen  for  months — there  the  Gulf  Stream 


1G1 

preserves  for  the  sea  a  temperature  of  37.8°.     While  the  sun 

in  the  short  days  of  winter  sends  forth  his   rays  of  light  and 
warmth  hut  for  :i  few  hours,  and  the  influen--  latter  i- 

quickly  losi    again  in  the  long  nights,  the  Gulf  Stream  does 
not  cease,  day  or  night,  to  be  the  source  of  warmth. 

"The  Gulf  Stream  carries  more  heat  to  the  north  than  is 
carried  hy  all  the  warm  air  currents  from  the  entire  periphery 
of  the  equator  towards  the  North  Pole  and  towards  the  South 
Pole.  The  southwest  winds  receive  their  high  temperature 
from  the  Gulf  Stream,  and  only  through  the  ocean — not  by  the 
winds — can  warmth  be  carried  into  latitudes  as  high  as  those 
of  the  European  coasts  are. 

"From  the  soundings  obtained  so  far,  the  Gulf  Stream  must 
be,  up  to  the  Arctic  ocean,  a  deep  and  voluminous  water 
course.  If  it  should  not  be  so,  the  polar  ice  would  reach  also 
the  European  coasts.  In  the  Antarctic  ocean  the  polar  ice 
drifts  all  around  the  globe  as  far  at  least  as  latitude  57°  5' 
south,  in  many  places  to  50°  and  40°,  (latitudes  corresponding 
respectively  to  those  of  the  British  Channel  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,)  on  some  even  to  35°,  (corresponding  to  the 
latitude  of  Morocco,)  but  not  the  smallest  particle  of  northern 
polar  ice  has  ever  reached  even  the  northernmost  cape  of 
Europe.  The  Gulf  Stream  in  its  course  is  more  powerful  and 
steady  than  all  the  winds ;  only  the  the  polar  ice  and  polar 
currents  in  spring  and  summer  exercise  a  great  influence  over 
it.  The  polar  stream  presses  at  three  places  against  it:  first, 
from  the  northwest,  east  of  Newfoundland,  then  from  the 
northeast  of  Iceland;  at  both  these  places  the  polar  stream  is 
buried  and  proceeds  beneath  the  Gulf  Stream,  after  having 
pushed  it  off  laterally  to  the  southeast.  But  for  the  third 
time,  at  Bear  Island,  the  polar  stream  comes  directly  against 
the  Gulf  Stream  from  the  northeast,  splits  it  into  two  or  three 
branches,  and  iu  places  even  presses  it  beneath  its  own  waters 
at  least  in  July.  Under  the  lee  of  Spitsbergen,  this  latter 
branch  rises  again  and  proceeds  on  the  surface  according  to 
Parry's  observations  to  latitude  82 -J°  north.  The  main  branch 
east  of  Bear  Island,  has  been  traced  by  Dr.  Bessels  to  latitude 
76°  8'  north,  where  in  August,  1869,  it  had  still  a  temperature 
of  41.2°. 

"  The  polar  streams,  in  conformity  with  the  general  laws  of 
nature,  are  less  powerful  in  winter  than  in  the  summer.  The 
polar  ice  does  not  drift  as  far  southward ;  it  makes  fast  more 


162 

or  less  to  the  Arctic  coasts  and  islands  ;  in  spring  .and  sum- 
mer, on  the  contrary,  it  drifts  along  similar  to  the  glacier 
tongues,  in  Alpine  mountains,  or  the  ice  in  our  rivers.  The 
Gulf  Stream  is  in  winter  more  powerful  than  in  summer, 
while  the  polar  streams,  so  to  say, set  at  rest  in  some  measure, 
withdraw  their  ice  and  concentrate  it  around  the  land.  The 
relations  of  the  temperature  of  the  Gulf  Stream  within  them- 
selves, are  ahout  the  same  in  January  as  in  July,  the  fluctu- 
ation between  its  maximum  and  minimum  temperature,  (July 
and  January,  or  August  and  February,)  would  be  on  the 
average  only  about  9°  of 'Fahrenheit,  (  4°  of  Keaumur.) 

"  What  immense  contrast  to  this  extraordinary  temperature 
is  offered  by  the  temperature  of  the  air  on  the  mainland! 
From  the  sea  and  air  isothermal  line  of  36.5°  Fahrenheit, 
(2°  of  Reaumur,)  at  Philadelphia,  to  Northumberland  S< 
with  —  40°,  the  distance  is  2280  miles  nearly  due  north, 
There  is,  therefore,  in  about  each  thirty  miles  a  fall  in  temper- 
ature of  one  degree,  as  you  go  north.  From  the  same  point 
at  Philadelphia  to  the  Gulf  Stream,  east  of  Fruholm,  on  the 
same  isothermal  line  of  36.5°  Fahrenheit,  (or  2°  of  Reaumur,) 
there  are  in  the  direction  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  in  an  air  line, 
about  5400  miles,  in  which  distance  there  is  no  fall  at  all  in 
the  temperature  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  There,  one  degree  of  fall 
in  each  thirty  miles;  here,  the  same  temperature  along  5400 
miles  in  a  northeast  direction.  Such  is  the  influence  and 
power  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  In  the  latitude  of  Berlin,  which 
has  a  mean  temperature  ot  the  air  in  January  of  28°,  the 
Gulf  Stream  has  50°  ;  at  the  Faroe  Islands  it  has  still  42.1°  ;  but 
in  Jakutsk,  in  the  latitude  of  the  Faroes,  the  air  is  40°  below 
zero,  a  difference  of  82.1°." 

Scoresby  remarks :  "In  some  situations  near  Spitzbergen, 
the  warm  water  not  only  occupies  the  lower  and  mid  regions 
of  the  sea,  but  also  appears  at  the  surface;  in  some  instances, 
even  among  ice,  the  temperature  of  the  sea  at  the  surface  lias 
as  high  as  30°,  or  38°,  when  that  of  the  air  has  been 
several  degrees  below  freezing.  This  circumstance,  however, 
has  chiefly  occurred  near  the  meridians  of  6°  to  12°  ea- 
Greenwich,  and  we,  find  from  observations  that  the  sea  freezes 
less  in  these  longitudes  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Spitz- 
bergen sea." 

"  The  hot  source  and  core  of  tho  Gulf  Stream  extends  from 
the  straits  of  Florida,  along  tho  Xorth  American  coast  at  all 
times,  day  and  night,  iii  winter  and  summer,  even  in  January, 


163 

with  a  temperature  of  77°,  and  more,  up  to  the  37°  of  north- 
era  latitude,  while  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  latini'l.-, 
in.  Africa,  (Tunis,)  the  temperature  of  the  air  is  but  5 
The  Gulf  Stream  transports  and  develops  still,  in  this  lati- 
tude, a  higher  temperature  than  water  and  air  possess  in  tho 
Atlantic  ocean,  even  under  the  equator,  on  which  neither  in 
Julv  nor  in  January,  the  temperature  is  ever  as  high  a.s  that 
of  the  Gulf  Stream,  in  latitude  37°  north."* 

Why  is  this?  "We  have  shown  that  heat  could  not  be 
forced  down  by  the  sun  along  the  line  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  by 
any  power  of  which  we  have  a  notion.  If  this  heat  could  bo 
derived  from  the  sun,  it  is  clear  that  the  temperature  of  the 
ocean  under  the  equator  should  be  at  least  a-  ^-ivat,  if  not 
much  greater,  than  it  is  in  the  straits  of  Florida^or  up  to  the 
37°  of  north  latitude;  but  we  know,  experimentally,  that  this 
is  not  the  case,  but  that  the  heat  is  actually  less  either  on  land 
or  ocean  under  the  equator,  than  it  is  in  that  portion  of  tho 
Gulf  Stream  from  the  straits  of  Florida  to  the  37°  of  north 
latitude.  Therefore  solar  radiation  of  heat  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. JS~or  could  the  great  heat  at  the  immense  depths  of  the 
Gulf  Stream,  penetrate  thereto,  even  if  it  were  possible  for 
heat  to  descend  to  our  planet  from  the  sun,  for  the  tendency 
of  heat  is  everywhere  to  ascend  into  the  atmosphere,  and  it 
could  not  remain  permanently  at  those  depths  in  opposition 
to  that  tendency.  We  must  therefore  seek  the  cause  of  this 
marvellous  heat  in  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  somewhere 
else  than  in  the  sun. 

We  are  told  by  our  geologists  that  very  great  heat  exists  in 
the  interior  of  our  earth — and  the  existence  of  volcanoes  in 
many  portions  of  the  globe  which  are  now  active,  as  well  as 
those  which  have  been  quiet  for  a  period  of  time  unknown 
to  man,  all  attest  the  truth  of  their  assertion.  These  volcanoes, 
past  and  present,  have  subterranean  and  submarine  communi- 
cations with  each  other,  which  permeate  large  portions  of  the 
interior  of  the  earth  and  serve  to  transmit  any  excessive  ac- 
cumulation of  heat  from  its  immediate  source  to  even  the 
most  distant  parts  of  the  earth's  interior,  for  radiation  to  the 
surface  of  the  earth.  These  communications  are  simply  flues 
for  distributing  the  interior  heat  of  the  earth  to  its  various  parts. 
The  greatest  heat  is  and  always  has  been  under  the  equator, 
and  these  flues  are  for  the  most  part  submarine.  If  you  will 

*  From  Dr.  A.  Peterman's  Essays  on  the  Extension  of  the  Gulf  Stream. 


164 

take  an  atlas  of  physical  geography  and  cast  your  eyes  upon 
the  map  showing  the  distribution  of  volcanoes  and  the  regions 
subject  to  earthquakes,  you  will  discover  that  the  southern  part 
of  Mexico  and  the  isthmus  connecting  the  two  Americas  are 
studded  with  volcanoes,  while  the  Caribbean  sea  is  filled  with 
them.  These  volcanoes  are  doubtless  connected  by  flues  which 
are  united  into  many  proximate  flues  in  the  straits  of  Florida, 
through  which  the  surplus  heat  of  tbe  interior  of  the  earth  under 
the  American  continent  and  a  part  of  the  Atlantic  ocean  and 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  transmitted  to  the  Arctic  regions,  warm- 
ing the  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  through  its  whole  length, 
and  thus  moderating  the  climates  of  tbe  western  parts  of 
Europe.  Another  system  of  volcanoes  will  be  observed  almost 
on  the  same  meridian,  extending  from  Tristan  d'Acunhain  the 
southern  Atlantic  ocean  though  Trinidad,  St.  Helena,  Ascen- 
sion, Cape  Verd  Islands,  Canary  Islands,  A/ores,  Iceland  and 
Jan  Mayen,  to  the  Arctic  regions.  These  vol.  Attest 

a  central  heat,  forcing  a  passage  by  the  repellent  affinity  of 
positive  electricity  with  which  it  is  associated  in  the  direction 
of  the  polar  axis  of  the  earth,  to  outlets  at  either  pole. 
When  obstructions  are  met  with  in  tbe  passage  of  this  heat 
and  electricity  towards  the  poles  in  the  interior  of  the  eartli 
volcanoes  are  formed,  the  superincumbent  crust  of  the  earth 
is  upheaved  and  a  vertical  flue  or  chimney  instead  of  the  origi- 
nal horizontal  or  inclined  flue  is  developed,  and  an  eruption 
of  matter  is  thrown  out  to  form  an  island,  which  in  a  series 
of  ages  may  become  a  continent. 

These  two  systems  of  submarine  flues  carrying  the  heat  of 
the  central  portion  of  the  interior  of  the  earth  under  the 
Atlantic  ocean,  a  part  of  the  American  continent,  the  Carrib- 
bean  sea,  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Antilles,  meet  under  the 
Atlantic  ocean  to  the  southeast  of  the  island  of  Iceland,  each 
furnishing  Us  supply  of  heat  to  maintain  the  temperatu; 
the  Gulf  Stream,  as  well  in  its  greatest  depths  as  on  its 
extended  surface.  As  heat  ascends  from  its  source  into  the 
atmosphere,  it  passes  upwards  from  the  bottom  of  the  Gulf 
Stream  through  it  to  its  surface,  associated  with  its  positive 
electricity,  where  it  encounters  the  negative  electricity  of  the 
atmosphere,  and  by  conjunction  with  it,  increases  the  heat  of 
the  air  above  the  water,  which  air,  thus  warmed,  attracted  by  the 
colder  air  negatively  electrified  of  tbe  land  that  is  nearest  to  it, 
flowt  in  a  steady  wind  towards  it,  ameliorating  its  climate  and 
promoting  the  health  and  happiness  of  its  inhabitants. 


1G5 

All  warm  currents  of  \vater,  wherever  t'iry  mav  he  situated, 
have  a  similar  origin  in  the  heat  developed  in  the  interior  of 
the  earth.  The  islands  of  the  Pacific  ocean  may  he  all  regarded 
as  volcanic.  The  western  coasts  of  America  from  Cape  Horn 
to  their  northern  limits,  furnish  a  corresponding  proportion  of 
volcanic  action,  and  the  warm  Japanese  current  through 
Behring's  straits  and  along  the  coast  of  Asia,  evinces  a  similar 
origin  in  submarine  flues  conveying  heated  air  under  the 
ocean  to  the  Arctic  regions  on  that  side  of  the  globe. 

"  The  British  expeditions  for  deep  soa  soundings  ascertained 
the  temperature  of  the  water  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  at  a  depth 
of  6000  feet,  (being  more  than  one  mile,)  to  be  38.1°,  and  at 
14, 610  feet,  (being  nearly  three  miles,)  to  be  still  36.5°.  Com- 
pared with  this/  the  deep  sea  temperature  of  the  Gulf  of 
Arabia,  and  even  of  the  water  under  the  Equator,  will  be 
found  very  low,  sinking  to  34° ;  in  general,  the  deep  sea 
temperature  of  the  tropical  oceans  is  lower  than  that  of  the 
Horth  American  basin. 

"  In  the  northern  Atlantic  ocean,  between  50°  and  60°  of 
latitude,  there  are  certain  bands  of  water  of  a  high  tern; 
ture  interposed  between  bauds  of  water  of  a  lower  tempertu  re 

"  T/iese  bands  of  a  higher  temperature  are  to  be  found,  more  or  tess, 
where  a  warm  current  and  a  cold  current  converge,  as,  for  in.- 
east  of  Iceland.  The  two  principal  bands  alluded  to  by  Admi- 
ral Irmiuger,  in  his  memoir,  in  about  60°  of  north  latitude, 
between  the  Shetland  islands  and  Cape  Farewell,  are,  doubt- 
less, the  two  convex  vertices  of  the  Gulf  Stream  in  that 
region. 

"  The  fact  that  the  entire  sea  between  Scotland  and  Iceland 
consists  of  a  great  number  of  such  warm  and  cold  bands  of 
water,  adjoining  each  other,  is  best  proved  by  the  cruise  of 
Lord  Dufferiu,  who,  sailing  from  Stornoway,  in  the  Hebrides, 
to  Reikiavik,  between  the  13th  and  20th  of  June,  1856,  oh 
served  the  temperature  of  the  surface  of  the  sea  every  two 
hours — in  all,  ninety  times — and  found  it  to  change  not  less  than 
forty-four  times,  or,  in  the  average,  once  in  fourteen  nautical 
miles,  the  change  fluctuating  between  52.9°  and  43°  ;  for  the 
most  part,  however,  between  50°  and  47.8°;  while  on  starting 
from  Stornoway,  the  temperature  was  observed  to  be  48°,  and 
on  arriving  at  Iceland  again  48°. 

"  There  are  bands  where  the  water  is  of  a  higher  temperature 
close  to  one  where  it  is  of  a  lower  temperature,  and  such 


1G6 

are  found  on  cadi  passage  across  the  Atlantic-,  between 
F;.irhill  and  Greenland.  The  diU'ercnce  between  the  highest 
•.iid  tlic  lowest  temperatures  of  the  sea  observed  on  this  line 
of  the  Atlantic  ocean  is  10.8°,  up  to  30°  or  40°  west:  of  Green- 
wich :  to  the  west  of  this  meridian,  the  temperature  tell  more 
rapidly,  the-  more  so  the  nearer  to  Greenland.  The  tempera- 
ture of  the  warmest  bands  is  defined  frequently  pretty  sharply 
against  the  waters  which  run  through  them.  This  high 
temperature  of  the  sea  at  its  surface,  extends  30  degrees  of 
longitude.,  or  at  least  900  nautical  miles  west  of  Fairhul. 

"Fimllay  mentions  that  the  temperature  at  the  depth  of 
1200  feet  was  found  to  he  only  f>.">°,  while  on  the  surface  of 
the  Gulf  Stream  it  reached  77.4°.  In  the  Florida  straits, 
where  the  velocity  of  the  Gulf  Stream  is  greatest,  the  tem- 
perature at  4800  feet  was  found  to  he  only  88.1°. 

"  The  warm  water  of  the  Gulf  Stream  is  not  found  at  consider- 
able depths,  much  of  the  heat  of  the  lower  strata  escaping  to 
the  surface.  It  is,  besides,  a  fact,  that  this  warm  water  is  hut 
little  apt  to  mix  with  the  adjoining  sea-water. 

'"'Above  the  broad  Atlantic  ocean,  in  high  latitudes,  in  the 
colder  seasons  there  is  a  relatively  high  temperature,  which  by 
the  prevailing  western  and  southwestern  wimb  is  carried  to 
the  coasts  of  Europe." 

Let  us  now  consider,  some  of  the  recogni/ed  laws  of 
heat  and  electricity.  It  is  known,  that  where  two  adjacent 
diil'erent  temperatures  exist  there  electricity  is  evolved. 
Now  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  the  .Japanese  current,  and 
of  other  I.  imfl  existing  in  the  oceans  and  along  coasts, 

deriving  their  heat  in  the  iirst  place  from  the  submarine  tines 
connecting  subterranean  and  submarine  volcanoes  with  the 
Arctic  and  Antarctic  regions,  admit  of  the  passage  of  this  heat 
through  their  globules  to  their  upper  surfaces,  in  conformity  to 
the  attraction  of  heat  from  1  he  surface  of  t  he  cart  h  to  1  he  upper 

atmosphere.  This  ascenl  of  heat  from  the  bottom  of  these  hot, 
streams  through  their  waters  to  the  atmosphere,  in  connection 
with  the  indraught  of  cold  Arctic  and  Antarctic  waters  flowing 

over  the  l>ot  tom  of  the  oceans,  is  the  cause  of  the  low  tempera- 
ture always  found  at  such  depths  in  those  waters — while  in- 
termediately from  the  bottom,  of  the  ocean  to  the  surface  in 
such  hot  currents  of  water,  the  temperature  varies  till  it  comes 
nto  contact  with  that  of  the  atmosphere, and  that  of  the  ocean 
water  en<  ing  these  hot  currents  of  water  through  their 

whole   extent.     The    contact  of  these   different  temperatures 


1G7 

evolves  electricity,  which  is  positive  where  the  high 
ture  of  the  water  pervades  its  greater  volumes,  and 
electricity  where  (lie  cold  Arctic  and  Antarctic  waters  exceed  in 
volume,  below  the  surface,  tlie  waters  of  tlie  liot  stream.  The 
conjunction  of  these  opposite  electricities  evolves  heat,  which 
being  absorbed  hy  the  water  where  they  meet  serves  to  supply 
a  continuous  source  of  heat  to  the  farthest  extremities  of  such 
hot  currents  of  water  to  the  Polar  regions — and  this  is  why 
this  great  heat  is  maintained  from  its  original  source  in  the 
Florida  straits  to  the  high  latitude  where  it  is  observed.  The 
cause  of  the  hot  waters  of  the  (Julf  Stream  not  mixing  readily 
with  the  colder  wafers  of  the  Xorthern  Atlantic  ocean,  will  he 
readily  found  in  tlie  junction  of  these  opposite  electricities,  pro- 
ducing heat  where  these  hot  ami-cold  waters  meet. 

In  ascending  from  the  earth  in  a  balloon,  aeronauts  have 
discovered  the  same  law  to  prevail  among  gaseous  iluids  as 
among  liquid  fluids  on  the  earth,  a>:d  that  strata  of  heated  air, 
even  at  great  elevations,  are  as  it  were  sandwiched  between 
others  of  far  lower  temperature  ;  the  contiguity  of  these  strata 
of  warm  and  cold  air  develops  heat  and  electricity  as  well  as 
magnetism  in  the  atmosphere,  as  is  done  also  in  the  waters  of 
the  ocean  by  corresponding  columns  of  warm  and  cold  water 
in  juxtaposition.  These  attributes  of  fluids  are,  therefore, 
among  the  great  sources  of  the  evolution  of  these  impondera- 
ble powers. 

The  cold  Arctic  and  Antarctic  currents  of  water,  in  motion 
to  the  Equator  from  the  poles  while  currents  of  warm  water 
from  the  tropics  to  the  poles  are  moving  beside  them  in  a 
directly  opposite  direction,  are  conclusive  evidences  that  they 
are  impelled  by  magnetic  attractions  and  repulsions  in  the 
crust  of  the  earth,  and  so  it  is  also  with  the  aerial  currents  of 
the  atmosphere.  Those  of  a  great  elevation,  having  a  very 
low  temperature,  are  attracted  towards  the  Equator  and  down- 
wards to  the  earth  by  its  magnetism,  while  the  warm  equato- 
rial currents,  repelled  from  the  earth  by  the  same  magnet- 
ism which  has  attracted  the  cold  upper  current  downward 
towards  it,  ascend  to  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere 
attracted  by  the  opposite  magnetism  existing  there,  and  in 
both  cases  in  opposition  to  the  supposed  law  of  gravitation,  for 
the  air  descending  to  the  earth  from  the  elevated  regions  of 
the  atmosphere  is  much  thinner  and  more  attenuated  than  the 
air  beneath,  and  the  ascending  warm,  air  is  much  denser  than 
the  air  of  the  regions  that  it  seeks.  The  diagonal  and  spiral 


168 

motions  of  either  the  descending  or  the  ascending  currents  of 
the  atmosphere  arc  produced  by  the  magnetism  of  those  portions 
of  the  atmosphere,  through  which  they  are  respectively 
passing. 

When  our  attention  is  directed  to  the  fact  of  the  Labrador 
and  Polar,  or  Arctic  currents  running  towards  the  Equator, 
while  by  their  sides  the  Gulf  Stream  is  running  towards  the 
Arctic  regions  in  an  opposite  direction  ;  and  when  it  is  dis- 
covered by  the  deep  sea  soundings,  that  there  are  currents  of 
wat  IT  of  varying  temperatures  at  great  depths  which  also  run 
side  by  side  in  opposite  directions,  at  whatever  depths,  we  are 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  no  conceivable  system  of  gravita- 
tion can  bo  devised  to  explain  the  anomaly.  But  if  we  apply 
the  law  of  development  of  heat  and  magnetism,  by  the  con- 
junction of  opposite  electricities,  which  are  always  associated 
with  differences  of  contiguous  temperatures,  the  solution  of 
the  phenomena  referred  to  becomes  comparatively  easy.  The 
electro-magnetic  condition  of  the  warm  water  of  the  Gulf 
Stream  is  repelled  from  the  Equator,  and  attracted  by  the 
opposite  electro-magnetic  condition  of  the  waters  and  atmos- 
phere about  the  North  Pole,  while  the  cold  waters  of  the 
Labrador  and  Arctic  currents  are  repelled  by  the  similar 
electro-magnetism  of  the  waters  at  their  starting  point,  and 
are  attracted  towards  the  Equator  by  the  opposite  electro-mag- 
netism of  the  warm  waters  there.  Similar  causes  produce 
similar  effects  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  and  similar  electro- 
magnetic forces  dominate  in  the  atmosphere  all  over  the 
planet.  Hence  we  find  there,  horizontal  winds  blowing  in 
opposite  directions,  one  above  the  other,  and  it  is  by  this  wise 
arrangement  of  oppositely  electrified  currents  of  air  that  the 
rainfall  is  scattered  and  distributed  over  vast  areas  of  the 
earth's  surface!,  modifying  the  temperatures  and  furnishing 
to  the  parched  and  arid  soil  those  supplies  of  water  for  irriga- 
tion, so  indispensable  to  the  support  of  animal  and  vegetable 
life  upon  it. 


Tn  the.  year  1^28,  I  was  detailed  with  two  other  officers  of 
the  army,  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  to  make  a  survey  of  the 
mountainous  region  in  the  states  of  North  and  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  and  Tennessee,  lying  between  the  head  of  navigation 
on  the  Savannah  river,  at  the  eastern  foot  of  the  I;lue  Uidgo 
mountains,  and  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Tcrne 
river,  on  the  western  side  of  the  same  mountains.  The  object 


1G9 

of  the  survey  was  to  ascertain  the  practicability  of  construct- 
ing a  navigable  canal  ou  the  mountains,  to  bring  the  produce 
of  northern  Alabama  and  eastern  Tennessee  to  Charleston, 
in  South  Carolina,  and  Savannah,  in  Georgia,  instead  of 
ing  it  to  Mobile  and  New  Orleans,  and  thus  it  was  hoped  by 
tlie  administration  of  the  Government  to  reconcile  the  people 
of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  especially,  to  the  policy  of 
having  the  internal  improvements  of  the  country  to  be  made 
by  the  Federal  Government  instead  of  by  the  State  Govern- 
ments. 

On  reaching  our  destination,  I  was  directed  to  run  a  line  of 
levels  from  the  head  waters  of  the  Savannah  river  over  the 
mountains  to  those  of  the  Tennessee  river,  a  distance,  if  I 
remember  rightly,  of  some  ninety  miles.  I  had  under  my 
command  eleven  men — mountaineers — stout,  strong,  active, 
and  hardy  fellows.  The  other  officers  were  employed  in 
prospecting  for  other  routes  across  the  mountains,  at  consid- 
erable distances  from  that  I  was  pursuing.  The  country  was 
then  very  thinly  settled,  and  a  portion  of  my  route  bordered 
on  the  lands  occupied  by  the  Creek  or  Cherokee  Indians,  then 
living  in  the  state  of  Georgia.  Of  course,  we  had  to  carry  all 
our  supplies  with  us,  the  country  furnishing  little  or  nothing. 
"We  were  occupied  on  this  duty  some  five  months,  from  July 
till  December.  Frost  appeared  in  the  latter  part  of  Septem- 
ber, on  the  parallel  of  latitude  of  Charleston,  in  South  Caro- 
lina, and  thin  ice  was  formed  on  the  streams  almost  nightly 
after  October  15th.  In  the  latter  part  of  October  my  party 
was  benighted  in  the  valley  of  the  Little  Tennessee  river,  far 
away  from  any  human  habitation,  on  a  narrow  alluvial  bottom, 
overhung  by  a  precipitous  and  lofty  mountain.  The  man 
detailed  to  bring  to  ua  from  the  mountain  ridge  our  supplies 
for  the  day  and  night,  had  missed  his  way,  and  hud  descended 
to  the  river,  at  a  place  that  we  had  left  several  miles  behind 
us.  He  had  not  observed  our  trail,  and  supposing  that  we 
had  not  passed  the  spot  which  he  had  reached,  he  kindled  a 
fire,  and  remained  there  all  night  awaiting  our  arrival.  After 
sending  men  in  every  direction  in  search  of  him,  who  returned 
without  success,  I  began  to  make  arrangements  for  the  night. 
The  air  was  cold  and  humid,  ice  being  formed  of  the  thick- 
ness of  a  quarter  of  an  inch  on  the  still  waters  of  a  portion  of 
the  river,  a  heavy  growth  of  timber  in  the  valley  of  the  river 
where  I  had  halted  rendered  the  ground,  as  well  as  the  air, 
very  damp.  The  men,  like  myself,  were  all  dressed  in  light 


170 

summer  clothing1,  and  fire,  therefore,  became  a  prime  necessity, 
but  the  question  was,  how  to  obtain  it.  At  that  period, 
lucifer  matches,  if  they  had  been  invented,  could  not  be 
procured  where  we  were.  My  arms  and  ammunition, 
with  the  rest  of  our  supplies,  were  with  my  wagon, 
and  where  it  was  we  had  not  been  able  to  discover. 
It  occurred  to  me  to  procure  fire  by  friction,  for  at  that 
day  it  was  thought  that  heat  was  evolved  by  friction.  So  I 
divided  my  ten  men  into  five  reliefs  of  two  men  each,  and 
directing  some  of  them  to  gather  the  driest  pieces  of  wood 
they  could  find,  I  notched  the  pieces  so  as  to  make  the 
greatest  rubbing  surfaces  possible  in  them,  and  then  I  set  two 
men  at  a  time  to  rub  the  pieces  of  wood  together.  Having 
some  pieces  of  dry  paper  in  my  pockets,  I  hoped  to  be  able  to 
kindle  a  fire  writh  them,  when  sufficient  heat  should  be 
developed  by  the  friction  of  the  pieces  of  wood.  The  men 
relieved  each  other  every  five  minutes,  after  having  rubbed  the 
pieces  of  wood  together,  vigourously  and  rapidly;  the  wood 
became  blackened,  and  much  smoke  was  given  out,  but  no 
fire  could  be  produced.  The  wood  itself  was  not  sufficiently 
dry,  and  none  more  suitable  could  be  procured.  The  evening 
air  was  cold  and  damp  and  carried  off  as  fast  as  it  was  evolved 
the  positive  electricity  which  flowed  from  the  friction  pro- 
duced on  the  wood  by  the  active  rubbing  of  the  men.  One  of 
the  elements  therefore  to  develop  the  heat,  viz:  the  negative 

i 'icily  of  the  atmosphere  that  \v<-  needed,  was  wanting. 
After  having  kept  these  five  reliefs  of  the  men  continually  busy 
in  rubbing  these  pieces  of  wood  for  two  consecutive  hours, 
i  gave  up  the  effort  in  despair,  and  we  submitted  ourselves  to 
the  circumstances  of  our  situation,  and  passed  a  dismal  night 
of  great  suffering.  Had  the  wood  and  the  night  air  been  dry, 
we  should  have  kindled  a  fire  in  fifteen  minutes  with  such 
an  amount  of  f notional  electricity  as  was  developed  by  the 
rubbing  of  the  wood  by  the  men.  The  experiment  satisfied 
me  that  heat  is  only  developed  by  the  proper  electrical  condi- 
tions and  not  by  friction  of  itself.  As  it  was,  all  the  friction 
we  could  produce  did  not  prevent  us  from  passing  two 
days  and  nights  in  these  mountains  without  food  or  fire,  the 

r  on  the  river,  in  its  tranquil  parts,  having  been  frozen  at 
night  of  the  thickness  of  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  or  an  English 
shilling. 

Every  housewife  in  the  country  knows  that  if  she  suffers 
the  sunlight  to  fall  upon  the  burning  fuel  on  her  hearth,  the 


171 

combustion  of  the  fuel  will  bo  deadened  by  it,  and  if  all 
to  continue  long,  it  will  be  extinguished.  This  is  o\\i> 
the  de-oxydizing  power  of  the  b!  ('the  sunlight,  which 

separating  the  oxygen  gas  from  the  atmo>pherio  air  in  the 
chimney,  prevents  the  combustion  of  the  fuel  from  the 
absence  of  oxygen  gas.  Whoever  has  seen  one  of  our  w« 
prairies  on  fire,  must  have  observed,  in  the  stillness  of  the 
morning  air  and  in  the  bright  sunshine,  that  the  combustion 
of  the  dry  grass  and  herbage  \vas  slow,  the  flume  la/ily  <  . 
ing  from  one  stalk  to  anothertill  a  <•:  nopy  of  smoke  intercept- 
ing the  sunlight,  allowed  a  current  of  air  to  be  formed 
beneath  the  smoke,  which  fanned  the  combustion  into  active 
flame.  These  results  were  from  the  removal  of  the  oxygen 
gas  from  the  air  in  the  first  place,  by  the  blue  ray  of  the  sun- 
light de-oxydi/ing  it,  and  in  the  second  part,  obscuring  the 
sunlight  by  the  canopy  of  smoke,  which  permitted  the  oxygen 
gas  in  the  atmosphere  to  be  re-united  to  the  air  beneath  it, 
and  to  supply  the  oxygen  gas  to  support  anew  the  combustion 
on  the  prairie. 

It  is  therefore  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  friction  produces 
heat.  It  evolves  electricity,  which,  uniting  with  opposite- 
electricity,  develops  sometimes  heat  and  sometimes  cold,  as 
one  or  other  of  the  electricities  is  predominant  in  volume  and 
tension  at  their  conjunction.  This  is  illustrated  by  the 
passage  of  sunlight  through  two  adjacent  panes  of  glass,  one 
being  blue,  the  other  colourless  and  transparent,  at  the  same 
angle  of  incidence.  Glass  is  known  to  be  a  feeble  conductor 
of  heat  as  well  as  of  electricity,  for  -we  i;  s  in  our 

windows  to  confine  within  our  rooms  the  artificial  heat  pro- 
duced within  them  during  winter,  and  in  northern  reiriona 
double  sashes  are  used  in  the  windows,  the  outer  sash  to 
prevent  the  cold  from  penetrating  through  them,  and  the 
inner  sash  to  confine  the  warmer  air  within  the  rooms;  arid  in 
electrical  experiments,  glass  handles  are  used  to  insulate 
currents  of  electricity  intended  to  be  passed  from  one  pole  of 
the  battery  to  the  other. 


when  sunlight  with  its  enormous  velocity  falls  thus 
upon  two  such  adjacent  panes  of  glass,  it  will  be  found  that 
the  plain  transparent  glass  is  cold  to  the  touch  of  the  hand, 
while  the  blue  glass  is  hot  when  so  touched.  If  friction  pro- 
duced heat,  both  of  these  surfaces  should  have  the  same  tem- 
perature, but  such  is  not  the  case.  The  reason  is  obvious. 
The  sunlight  passes  through  the  plain  transparent  glass,  only 


172 

slightly  retarded  by  its  density,  which  is  greater  than  that  of 
the  atmosphere,  but  subject  to  its  refraction — while  six  of  the 
primary  rays  of  the  sunlight  that  impinges  upon  the  blue 
glass,  are  suddenly  arrested  by  the  impact  with  it,  which 
shatters  the  composite  rays  of  indigo,  violet  and  purple  into 
their  component  parts,  and  only  admits  of  the  passage  of  the 
blue  ray  through  it.  This  sudden  stoppage  of  a  velocity  of 
186,000  miles  per  second  of  six  of  these  primary  rays  of  sun- 
light produces  enormous  friction,  which  evolves  negative 
electricity  from  these  rays,  which  coming  in  contact  with  the 
vitreous  or  positive  electricity  of  the  glass  evolves  heat,  that 
expanding  the  molecules  of  the  glass  allows  the  heat  thus 
developed  and  a  current  of  electro-magnetism,  produced  at 
the  same  time  by  this  conjunction  of  opposite  electricities,  to 
through  the  glass,  and  to  produce  the  marvelous  results 
upon  animal  and  vegetable  life  that  we  have  announced. 
This,  then,  is  the  theory  that  explains  the  almost  magical 
effects  that  are  produced  in  life  by  the  impact  of  sunlight  upon 
the  adjacent  surfaces  of  plain  transparent  glass  and  blue  g 

The  facts  are  in  such  harmony  with  the  explanation  of 
them,  that  as  we  cannot  deny  the  facts  we  are  bound  to 
accept  the  theory  that  elucidates  them.  This  will  relieve  the 
scientific  mind  that  is  always  bothered  to  accept  a  new  fact  or 
to  comprehend  a  new  theory. 

Light  is  diffusible.  This  is  apparent  cvcrywhere.in  our  illu- 
minations. It  is  also  compressible,  as  illustrated  by  the  con- 
cm!  ration  of  sunlight  through  a  common  lensor  sun  glass  into 
a  focus,  by  which  a  boy  lights  his  segar  or  inflames  a  squib  of 
gunpowder.  This  shows  that  rays  of  light  move  through 
ether,  and  our  atmosphere,  Without  touching  each  other,  and 
that  when  they  are  comprised  together,  us  in  this  lens,  their 
incy  produces  friction,  and  this  friction  evctlvcs  negative 
electricity,  which  has  caused  their  separation,  which  negative 
electricity  brought  into  contact  with  the  vitreous  or  positive, 
electricity  of  the  glass  of  the  len«,  develops  heat  of  extraordi- 
nary intfii.-ny.  Now,  \vhenwe  come  to  apply  theso  attributes 
of  light  to  the  physical  condition  of  our  planet,  we  are  •  t  no 
•nations  of  our  temperature  throughout 
•  us,  directly  to  the  action  of  light  upon  the  various 
polid,  liquid  •  '-onstituents  of  the  planet,  which  at 

-  and  in  certain  conditions  are  oppositely  electri- 
fied to  the.  rays  of  light. 

There  is  no  atmosphere  about  the  moon  and  consequently 


173 

it  has  no  heal",  as  the  rays  oflight  which  fall  upon  tho  moon's 
surface  being  negatively  elect  rifled  its  they  p;i^  through  tho 
cold  ether  of  stellar  and  planetary  space,  (,ti  n-a'-hiiiu;  the 
moon  at  a  very  small  angle  of  incidence  from,  the  sun,  aj 
Btantly  reflected  t'rom  its  surface  upon  the  earth  and  into 
space-.  The  moon  itself  being  negatively  electrified  bv  its  con- 
tact with  this  ether  in  its  career  r:  its  orhit,  this  negatively 
electrified  condition  of  the  moon's  surface  repels  the  r;: 
light  therefrom,  and  hastens  their  reflection.  The  rotation  on 
its  axis  is  the  effect  of  electrical  forces  in  its  interior,  and  its 
motion  around  the  earth,  and  with  it  around  the  sun,  results 
from  the  magnetism  contained  within  its  crust,  and  in  the 
earth  and  its  atmosphere,  as  well  as  in  the  planets,  the  sun 
and  the  ether  of  space. 

No  one  impulse  could  possibly  send  light  from  its  various 
sources  in  the  firmament  through  space  with  its  constant 
velocity  of  186,000  miles  per  second.  It  is  impelled  through 
space  with  its  own  concomitant  forces,  as  a  rocket  fired  from 
its  stand  is  continually  driven  forward  hy  the  forces  evolved 
in  the  combustion  of  its  composition,  till  it  is  extinguished. 
So  light  is  repelled  from  its  sources  in  the  firmament  by  its 
negative  electricity,  and  its  velocity  is  maintained  by  the  ;. 
ance  of  the  negative  electricity  of  the  ether  through  which  it  is 
passing,  continually  driving  it  forward.  This  condition  of 
negative  electricity  in  light  being  constant,  and  its  velocity 
uniform,  its  rate  of  speed  is  maintained  till  it  enters  our  atmos- 
phere, where  it  encounters  electrical  disturbances  of  opposite 
as  well  as  similar  conditions,  producing  its  refraction,  its  re- 
flections, its  polarization  and  its  absorption.  On  reaching  the 
surface  of  the  earth,  which  at  every  moment  presents  a  new 
portion  to  the  action  of  light,  all  the  phenomena  of  day, 
twilight  and  night,  of  heat  and  cold,  of  dryness  and  moisture,  of 
atmospheric  and  climatic  changes,  are  developed.  Seasons  suc- 
ceed each  other,  according  to  the  angles  of  incidence  of  the  sun's 
light.  When  it  falls  in  the  summer  on  certain  parts  of  the  earth 
almost  vertically,  no  rays  of  light  are  reflected  from  it,  they 
all  imi-inge  npon  it  with  their  inconceivable  velocity,  develop- 
ing by  their  friction  with  the  earth  an  opposite  electricity  to 
their  own  and  that  of  the  atmosphere,  whose  union  produces 
tho  heats -of  s  mmer.  In  winter,  though  the  earth  is  three 
millions  of  miles  nearer  the  sun  than  it  is  in  summer,  yet  the 
angle  of  incidence  of  the  sun's  rays  of  light  is  so  small  and 
acute,  that  a  large  proportion  of  them  are  reflected  into  space 
•without  producing  the  friction  with  the  earth  which  is  neces- 


174 

sary  to  evolve  an  opposite  electricity  and  heat  consequent 
upon  the  union  of  the  two  electricities  :  hence  the  temperature 
of  the  winters  in  such  parts  of  the  earth's  surface  is  low,  and 
cold  prevails.  The  intermediate  seasons  make  an  average 
between  the  extremes  of  summer  and  winter,  from  the  cor- 
responding angles  of  incidence  of  their  light. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  illustrations  of  the  remarkable 
power  developed  by  the  compressibility  of  light  is  furnished 
in  the  celebrated  exploits  of  Archimedes,  the  iSyracusan,  the 
most  learned  of  the  mathematicians  of  antiquity,  in  destroying 
by  means  of  reflecting  mirrors  the  fleet  of  the  Romans,  who, 
investing  the  city  of  Syracuse  by  land,  were  blockading  its 
port  with  a  numerous  fleet,  which  was  preparing  to  batter  the 
sea  walls  of  the  city  with  battering  rams  and  catapults. 
Archimedes  conceived  the  idea  of  destroying  this  fleet,  which 
was  unapproachable  by  any  adequatic  force  under  the  control 
of  the  Syracusans,  by  concentrating  upon  it  the  light  of  the 
sun,  reflected  from  mirrors  into  foci,  successively  thrown 
upon  the  several  ships  of  the  fleet,  fit  the  distance  of  an 
arrow's  flight  from  the  shore,  or  from  150  to  200  feet. 

The  two  ancient  authors  who  have  furnished  the  clearest 
account  of  this  extraordinary  feat  in  warfare,  are  Zonaras  and 
Txetzes,  who  each  lived  in  the  twelfth  century  of  the  Christian 
era.  The  passage  in  the  history  of  Zonaras  does  not  enlighten 
us  in  regard  to  the  construction  of  the  mirrors  used  by 
Archimedes,  it  simply  states  the  fact,  and  in  another  passage 
the.  same  author  says,  that  under  the  empire  of  Anastasius,  in 
the  year  514,  A.  D.,  Proclus  with  burning  mirrors  burnt  and 
de-lroyed  the  fleet  of  Yitalien,  who  was  besieging  Constanti- 
nople, and  he  added,  their  invention  was  ancient, and  that  Dion 
gave  the  honour  of  it  to  Archimedes,  who  had  used  it  success- 
fully against  the  Romans  at  the  siege  of  Syracuse. 

The  historian  Tzetzes,  enters  more  fully  into  the  description 
of  the  mirrors  used  by  Archimedes,  which  he  said  were  com- 
i  of  a  c.-ntral  hexagonal  mirror,  surrounded  by  others  of 
a  smaller  size,  which  by  the  aid  of  hinges  and  metallic  plates, 
could  be  so  exposed  to  the  sun,  that  its  rays  of  light  falling 
upon  them  would  be  reflected  and  then  concentrated  into  a 
common  focus,  developing  so  great  a  heat  that  the  nhi: 
the  Romans  were  burnt  by  it,  even  at  the  distance  of  an 
arrow's  flight. 

Among  the  moderns,  Kircher  has  written  that  Archimedes 
had  been  able  to  burn,  at  a  great  distance,  with  plane  mirrors, 


175 

rience   Laving    taught  him   that   in    assembling   in    (his 
manner  the  images  of  the  sun,  a  licat  could  be  produced  at  a 
oint  where  these  images  were  united. 

Mr.  Du  Fay,  a  member  of  the  Royal  Academy  ices, 

in  a  memoir  printed  in  1716,  stated  that  the  image  of  the  sun, 
reflected  by  a  plane  mirror  more  than  600  feet,  upon  a  eon- 
cave  mirror  with  a  diameter  of  17  inches,  burned  intlamma- 
ble  substances  at  the  focus  of  this  concave  mirror,  lie  more- 
over added  that  some  authors  had  suggested  that  a  mirror, 
with  a  very  long  focus,  could  be  formed  by  using  a  large 
number  of  small  plane  mirrors,  which  might  be  held  in  the 
hands  of  as  many  persons,  and  so  directed  by  them  as  to 
throw,  by  reflection,  all  the  images  of  the  sun  upon  a  given 
point,  thus  developing  great  heat;  but  al  the  same  time  he 
treated  the  story  of  Archimedes  burning  the  Roman  fleet  at 
Syracuse  as  the  veriest  fable,  and  worthy  of  all  ridicule. 

It  is  very  singular  that  men  will  frequently  believe  state- 
ments of  the  most  improbable  and  even  impossible  character, 
who,  at  the  same  time,  will  reject  the  best  established  historical 
facts  when  they  happen  to  be  outside  their  circle  of  know- 
ledge. Such  has  been  the  fate  of  the  historv  of  the  burning 

O  */ 

mirrors  with  which  Archimedes  destroyed  the  Roman  fleet  at 
Syracuse.  This  fact,  related  by  many  historians,  believed, 
without  question,  during  fifteen  or  sixteen  centuries,  was,  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  not  only  disputed,  but  was  treated 
as  a  silly  fable  by  many  of  the  savans  of  that  period.  Even 
the  illustrious  Des  Cartes  openly  denied  its  possibility,  and 
we  must  acknowledge  that  with  the  then  received  opinions  on 
Dioptrics,  Des  Cartes  was  excusable  for  not  believing  the 
mirrors  of  Archimedes  ever  to  have  existed. 

This  incredulity,  on  the  part  of  many  persons  claiming  to 
be  scientists,  excited  the  interest  of  M.  de  Button,  the  cele- 
brated naturalist,  at  the  time  the  Intendant  of  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes,  at  Paris.  He  determined  to  test  the  question  practi- 
cally, and  for  this  purpose  constructed  a  system  of  reflecting 
plane  mirrors,  by  which  he  attained  complete  success.  He 
began  by  measuring  the  loss  of  illuminating  power  in  the 
reflection  of  the  sun's  rays  from  metallic  mirrors  of  the  finest 
polish,  when  compared  with  the  loss  so  sustained  by  reflec- 
tion from  plane  glass  mirrors  covered  on  their  backs  with  tin 
foil.  It  was  found  that  the  glass  mirrors  lost  less  light  by 
reflection  than  the  metallic  mirrors  did,  but  that  it  required 
two  plane  glass  mirrors  of  the  same  dimensions  to  produce, 


176 

at  a  given  distance,  an  illumination  equal  to  that  from  the 
same  unobstructed  beam  of  sunlight  passing  into  an  obscure 
room  through  an  aperture  in  the  window  shutter,  and  conse- 
quently, that  the  number  of  his  glass  mirrors  should  be  largely 
increased  to  produce  any  sensible  effect  on  combustible  sub- 
sfances.  After  studying  his  subject  in  its  various  relations  to 
the  laws  of  light  and  heat,  as  then  understood  by  scientific 
men,  M.  de  BufFon  constructed  his  mirror  of  168  pieces  of 
plane  glass,  covered  on  the  back  with  tin  foil,  each  piece  being 
six  inches  wide  by  eight  inches  long,  separated  from  each 
other  by  four  lines,  and  mounted  on  a  stand,  which  was  sus- 
ceptible of  being  moved  in  every  direction;  each  of  these 
glasses  had  a  separate  setting,  so  that  it  could  be  separately 
moved  in  every  direction,  independent  of  the  movements  of 
the  other  glasses.  It  required  about  half  an  hour  to  adjust 
the  reflected  images  of  the  sun  from  these  mirrors  into  a  com- 
mon focus.  When  the  glasses  were  properly  arranged,  and 
the  focus  adjusted,  a  board  of  beech  wood  covered  with  pitch, 
was  set  on  iire  by  40  of  these  glasses  at  the  distance  of  66  feet; 
with  98  glasses,  a  board  covered  with  pitch  and  sulphur  was 
set  on  fire  at  the  distai.ce  of  120  feet.  A  slight  combustion  wa3 
produced  on  a  board  covered  with  wool  cut  very  fine,  by 
employing  112  glasses,  at  the  distance  of  138  feet,  with  a  very- 
pale  sun.  At  150  feet  of  distance,  a  board  covered  with  pitch 
was  made  to  smoke  with  154  glasses,  and  it  was  thought  that 
it  would  have  been  burnt  if  the  sun  had  not  become  overcast 
with  clouds.  With  a  still  feebler  sun,  chips  of  pine  wood 
covered  with  pitch  have  been  set  on  fire  in  one  minute  and  a 
half,  at  the  same  distance,  with  a  like  number  of  glasses. 
With  an  unclouded  sun,  a  pine  board,  covered  with  pitch,  at 
the  same  distance,  has  been  quickly  set  on  fire  with  128 
glasses,  and  the  fire  has  caught  the  whole  surface  of  the  focus, 
\\hichwas  16  inches  in  diameter,  at  that  distance.  Finally, 
the  focus  having  been  shortened  to  the  distance  of  20  feet, 
with  12  glasses  the  substances  easily  combustible  were  set 
on  tire.  With  45  glasses  a  tin  canister,  weighing  six  pounds, 
Las  been  quickly  melted  with  117  glasses.  Thin  scraps  of 
silver  have  been  melted,  and  a  sheet  of  iron  has  been  made 
red  hot;  and  there  was  reason  to  believe  that  if  all  the  glasses 
of  the  mirror  had  been  used,  motals  could  have  been  as  easily 
melted  at  50  feet  distance  as  at  20  feet. 

These  experiments  have  been  made  with  a  sun  of  a  spring 
time,  and  without  much  power,  having  been  enfeebled  by 
atmospheric  vapours.  If  then,  with  these  disadvantages,  wood 


177 

could  be  burnt  at  150  feet  distant,  we  may  well  think,  that 
with  a  summer's  sun,  it  could  be  readily  'burnt  at  200  feet 
distance,  and  with  three  similar  mirrors"  it  could  bo  set  on 
lire  at  400  feet  distance.  M.  do  Button  thought  that  with 
mirrors  similar  to  his  own,  combustibles  could  not  be  inflamed 
beyond  a  distance  of  900  feet. 

Let  us  attempt  an  explanation  of  these  phenomena.  The 
enormous  velocity  of  rays  of  light  in  coming  to  our  planet, 
establishes  the  fact  that  they  cannot  touch  each  other  in  their 
passage,  since  if  they  jostled  each  other  their  velocity  would 
be  greatly  diminished.  Repelled  from  each  other,  therefore, 
by  their  own  negative  electricity,  as  well  as  by  that  they  have 
received  from  the  cold  ether  through  which  they  have  passed, 
they  are  attracted  to  the  glass  of  the  mirrors  and  their  metal- 
lic backing,  by  the  vitreous  or  positive  electricity  of  those  sub- 
Btances.  On  striking  the  glass,  these  rays  produce  friction, 
which  evolves  positive  electricity,  the  junction  of  these  oppo- 
site electricities  evolves  heat  and  magnetism,  the  rays  of  heat 
thus  developed  follow  the  same  laws  as  do  those  of  light,  and 
together,  both  are  reflected  from  the  mirrors  and  are  directed 
to  the  common  focus,  where  their  concentration  sets  on  fire 
combustible  substances,  and  melts  and  vaporizes  those  of  a 
more  obdurate  and  intractable  character.  The  refraction  and 
reflection,  as  well  as  the  polarization  of  light,  are  due  to  the 
repellent  affinity  of  electricity. 

When  we  are  told  that  on  many  parts  of  the  earth's  surface 
mountains  have  been  upheaved  till  their  peaks  and  ridges,  at 
distances  varying  from  16,000  to  28,000  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea,  appear  to  be  covered  with  snow,  which  from  year  to 
year,  and  from  century  to  century,  continues  to  cover  them, 
no  matter  in  what  latitudes  they  may  exist,  nor  in  what  ecu- 
sou  of  the  year  they  may  be  examined,  we  naturally  ask  our- 
selves, why  is  this?  How  does  it  happen,  that  these  snow- 
capped peaks  and  ridges,  at  such  great  elevations  above  tho 
sea,  far  above  the  region  of  the  atmosphere  in  which  clouds 
and  vapours  habitually  love  to  roam  as  it  were  at  will,  bask- 
ing in  a  resplendent  and  brilliant  sunlight,  receiving  all  the 
supposed  emanations  of  heat  from  the  sun,  that  philosophers 
of  every  age  have  innocently  conjectured  that  that  luminary, 
like  a  human  spendthrift,  was  lavishing  upon  infinite  space, 
in  all  directions,  that  a  small  portion  of  it  might  reach  our 
planet,  should  preserve  their  mantles  of  perpetual  snow,  in  all 
seasons,  in  all  climatic  changes  that  are  occurring  every 


178 

moment  thousands  of  feet  beneath  them,  and  thus  continue 
delving,  as  it  would  seem,  the  mutability  of  all  other  earthly 
things  ?  Some  of  our  philosophers  of  the  highest  distinction, 
have  gone  into  the  most  elaborate  calculations  to  show  what 
enormous  columns  of  ice,  of  the  greatest  density,  could  be 
melted  by  the  heat  of  the  sun,  in  its  constant  emanation,  in 
the  smallest  spaces  of  time,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  the 
snow  clad  mountains,  that  happen  to  be  the  nearest  to  the 
sun,  have  been  from  time  immemorial,  unaffected  in  the 
slightest  manner,  by  any  heat  derived  from  that  great  lumi- 
nary. Let  us  attempt  an  explanation  of  this  wonder.  The 
colour  of  snow  is  white.  It  has  a  low  temperature.  Its  elec- 
trical condition  is  negative,  as  is  the  white  colour  of  sunlight, 
as  are  the  rays  of  sunlight  which  reach  us  through  the  i. 
tively  electrified  ether  of  space,  also  intensely  cold,  and  the 
intensely  cold  upper  strata  of  our  atmosphere.  As  a  conse- 
quence, white  sunlight,  negatively  electrified,  falling  upon  the 
white  snow  capped  mountains,  also  negatively  electrified,  as 
are  also  the  strata  of  our  atmosphere  into  which  these  moun- 
tains lift  their  heads,  these  similar  electricities  repel  each 
other.  The  white  sunlight  is  reflected  into  space  from  the 
snow  covered  mountains,  which  remain  undisturbed,  and  no 
trace  of  the  action  of  heat,  as  derived  from  the  sun,  is  any- 
where visible  upon  them. 

If  the  sun  is  a  great  magnet,  it  must  have  its  magnetic  poles, 
with  their  reciprocal  attractions  and  repulsions.  The  plane  of 
the  sun's  equator  is  said  to  be  neither  perpendicular  to  nor 
coincident  with  that  of  the  ecliptic.  Its  magnetic  poles  may 
therefore  be  differently  situated  in  it  to  the  positions  occupied 
in  the  earth  by  its  magnetic  poles.  From  the  supposed  enor- 
mous volume  and  intensity  of  magnetism  in  and  about  the  sun, 
we  may  inter  that  the  velocity  of  the  planets  and  of  cometary 
matter  in  their  respective  pro'gress  in  their  orbits,  would  be 
cheeked  when  in  their  several  perigees  or  nearest  points  to 
the  sun,  from  its  great  magnetic  attraction,  and  that  as  they 
ally  receded  therefrom,  those  velocities  would  be  in- 
-ed  from  the  loss  of  the  sun's  attraction  by  increase  of 
distance  from  it,  and  the  nearer  approach  to  their  apogees,  or 
greatest  distance  from  the  sun,  where  the  SUU'B  attraction 
would  be  the  least,  and  the  opposite  magnetic  attraction  of 
the  ether  of  space  would  be  the  greatest.  If  it  were  not  1  -r 
the  interior  forces  of  the  planets,  <fcc.,  causing  their  rotations 
on  their  B  might  suppose  that  their  movements  around 

m   might  be   stopped  entirely,  when  tlr\v  had  .severally 
reached  their  perigees  by  the  magnetism  of  the  sun. 


179 
TVlien  two  magnets  of  different  magnetic-  volumes  ami   in- 


tensities are  brought  near  each  other  with  similar 
towards  eaeh  other,  the  greater  magnet  will  repel  the  l«-sser  : 
if  their  opposite  poles  approach  ea<-h  other,  the  feebler  will  be 
attracted  by  the  stronger.  Now  the  sun  having  much  gr 
magnetic  power  than  the  earth,  when  the  latter  is  at  its  peri- 
gee its  velocity  must  be  retarded  by  the  greater  attractive 
magnetism  of  the  sun,  which  would  hold  it  fixed  when  in  peri- 
gee, but  foe  the  rotation  of  the  earth  on  its  axis,  driving  it 
forward,  and  that  retardation  or  holding  it  back  after  it  bad 
passed  its  perigee  wrould  continue  until  the  earth  had  receded 
so  far  from  its  perigee  as  to  have  reached  the  attraction  of  the 
opposite  magnetism  beyond  its  apogee. 

The  sun  exhibits  every  characteristic  and  evidence  of  a  body 
enveloped  in  two  atmospheres,  so  to  state,  the  one  in  contact 
with  it  being  the  region  of  white  light,  called  the  photosphere, 
and  outside  of  that,  a  region  in  which  coloured  light  is  some- 
times manifested,  especially  along  the  edges  of  the  solar  disc, 
and  which  last  region  is  called  the  chromosphere.  The  spots 
on  the  sun  are  supposed  to  be  holes  of  various  forms  and 
dimensions  in  the  region  of  white  light,  through  which  the 
dark  body  of  the  sun  itself  has  been  seen.  These  spots  or 
holes  are  liable  to  variations,  and  are  analogous  to  the  spots 
of  sunlight  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  which  are  sometimes 
seen  to  be  surrounded  by  the  shadows  cast  upon  the  earth 
by  the  clouds  above  it.  Kasmyth,  in  the  year  1866,  made  the 
discovery  that  the  luminous  portion  of  the  sun's  disc  is  not 
composed  of  light  of  equal  or  homogeneous  intensity,  but 
consists  of  a  minutely  divided  series  of  luminous  streaks, 
which  he  described  as  like  willow  leaves,  around  which  the 
light  is  less  intense,  or  rather  the  photosphere  is  more  trans- 
parent. These  willow  leaves  appeared  to  cross  each  other  in 
all  varieties  of  directions,  and  their  average  magnitude  was 
about  one  thousand  miles  long,  by  a  hundred  miles  broad  ; 
other  observers  have  preferred  to  describe  these  appearances 
as  "  granulations,"  "rice  grains,"  and  "shingle  beach,"  and 
as  having  elliptical  forms,  and  of  much  smaller  proportions. 

The  moon,  we  know  to  be  a  reflector  of  light  without  the 
emission  of  any  accompanying  heat.  The  picture  of  the  face 
of  the  moon  exhibited  to  us,  represents  great  irregularities  in 
its  surface,  depressions,  as  if  they  were  craters  of  extinct  vol- 
canoes, and  elevations  of  great  altitude,  conveying  the  idea  of 
volcanic  mountains;  but  the  general  colour  is  that  of  a  light 


180 

grey,  not  unlike  to  sheets  of  zinc,  or  tin  foil,  the  latter  of 
which  we  use  as  backs  or  reflecting  surfaces  in  our  glass 
mirrors. 

If  we  thus  get  our  nocturnal  light  from  the  moon,  unac- 
companied by  heat,  why  should  we  insist  upon  violating  the 
well  established  laws  of  heat  in  its  radiations,  and  declare  the 
sun  to  be  an  incandescent  body,  continually  in  active  com- 
bustion, requiring  inconceivable  masses  of  fuel  of  some  kind 
to  maintain  it,  and  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  an  immensity 
of  ethereal  space  of  so  low  a  temperature  that  any  radiation 
of  heat  from  the  sun  must  necessarily  be  absorbed  and  neu- 
tralized as  soon  as  it  should  leave  the  body  of  the  sun  ?  We 
therefore,  for  the  reasons  stated  in  this  book,  reject  entirely 
the  theory  of  the  incandescence  of  the  sun,  and  of  its  lumi- 
nous metallic  vapours  of  great  intensity  of  heat. 

"We  have  shown  in  the  body  of  this  work,  that  the  colored 
lights  constituting  the  primary  rays  of  light,  which  aro 
emitted  from  the  various  orbs  of  the  firmament,  negatively 
electrified,  and  are  propelled  by  the  cold  negatively  electrified 
ether  through  which  they  are  continually  passing  to  tho 
sun,  and  through  its  transparent  or  translucent  chromosphere 
to  the  photosphere  of  the  sun,  are  there  commingled  to 
produce  its  white  light,  which  then  is  repelled  or  reflected 
from  the  grey  "  willow  leaves,"  "granulations,"  "  rice  grains,'* 
or  whatever  they  may  be,  into  ethereal  space  by  the  samo 
negative  electricity,  which  has  been  associated  with  them 
throughout,  a  portion  of  which  comes  to  us  as  the  white  light 
of  the  sun. 

This  shows  the  synthesis  or  formation  of  the  white  light  of 
the  sun,  and  that  it  is  merely  an  association  of  tho  primary 
rays  of  light  thrown  together  by  electrical  and  magnetic 
attractions  and  repulsions  in  the  photosphere  of  the  sun,  and 
so  easily  separable  that  the  slightest  change  in  the  angle  of 
incidence  of  the  white  light  of  the  sun,  as  it  falls  upon  vapours, 
clouds,  or  gases  will  excite  their  repellent  affinities,  and  resolve 
them  into  the  varied  and  brilliant  tints  of  primary  and  com- 
posite colours,  which  everywhere  in  the  temperate  regions, 
serve  to  excite  our  astonishment,  wonder,  and  delight.  These 
changes  need  no  accompaniment  of  heat,  and  us  they  are 
without  it,  we  return  to  the  declaration  of  Moses,  that  "  God 
made  two  great  lights,  a  greater  light  to  rule  the  day,  and  a 
lesser  light  to  rule  the  night  aud  the  stars. 


181 

"And  he  set  them  in  the  firmament  of  heaven  to  shine  upon 
the  earth,  and  to  rule  the  day  and  the  night,  und  to  divide  the 
light  and  the  darkness ;  arid  God  saw  that  it  was  good." 

Among  the  fallacies  of  seience,  as  taught  in  our  schools,  to 
some  of  which  I  have  alluded  in  this  book,  there  is  not  one 
more  surprising  than  the  statement  made  by  our  astronomers, 
that  the  earth,  the  planets,  and  the  sun  itself  continually 
revolve  on  their  respective  axes,  and  in  their  orbits  from  west 
to  east.  We  are  also  told  that  these  orbits  are  elliptical 
curves  which  return  into  themselves.  Now  we  will  illustrate 
this  movement  by  supposing  that  a  man  has  started  from  San 
Francisco,  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  to  travel  on  the  same  parallel 
of  latitude  from,  west  to  east  around  the  world.  After  he  has 
travelled  one  hundred  and  eighty  degrees  on  this  parallel  of 
latitude,  he  finds  that  he  has  reached  the  east  cardinal  point 
from  San  Francisco,  and  if  he  should  continue  his  journey,  he 
must  travel  westward,  which  course  will  bring  him  in  time  back 
again  to  San  Francisco.  How  is  it  possible,  therefore,  in  a 
curve  which  returns  to  itself  to  travel  always  in  the  same 
direction  ?  There  can  be  no  fixed  cardinal  points  in  any  solar 
or  stellar  system  which  is  always  in  motion.  In  regard  to 
the  diminutive  planet  which  we  inhabit,  the  curvature  or 
annulus  of  magnetic  poles,  north  and  south,  is  sufficiently 
stable  tind  fixed  to  furnish  cardinal  points  of  the  compass  to 
regulate  our  journeyings  upon  it;  but  with  planets,  stars,  and 
suns,  it  is  different.  They  have  no  fixed  points  in  the  celes- 
tial sphere,  of  which  we  have  or  can  have  any  knowledge,  to 
which  the  direction  of  their  movements  can  be  referred,  and 
it  is  simply  an  absurdity  to  attempt  to  assimilate  planetary 
and  stellar  motions  to  those  of  mankind  on  our  earth. 

The  planes  of  the  orbits  of  the  planets  arc  neither  coincident 
with,  parallel,  nor  perpendicular  to  each  other,  but  they  are 
supposed  to  intersect  each  other  in  such  a  manner  that  tho 
sun  shall  always  be  in  a  focus,  common  to  all  of  these  ellipti- 
cal orbits;  consequently  any  perpendicular  line  or  plane  to 
any  one  of  these  orbits,  cannot  be  perpendicular  to  any  other 
of  them;  and  hence,  there  can  be  no  cardinal  points  common 
to  them  all,  and  their  motions  cannot  be  from  west  to  east. 

My  task  is  finished.  "When,  in  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury, it  was  announced  that  the  primary  rays  of  light  had  dif- 
ferent attributes,  and  among  them,  that  the  blue  ray  stimulated 
vegetation  in  a  remarkable  degree,  many  persons  on  the  con- 


182 

tinont  of  Europe,  as  well  as   in   the  British  Isles,  instituted 
experiments,  with  a  view  to  utilize  these  rays.     Their  experi- 
ments  were  failures,  as  they  were  made  with  homogeneous 
tinted  glass,  each  of  the  primary  rays  having  in  this  way  heen 
somewnere  tested,  but  without  satisfactory  results.     A  know- 
ledge of  these  failures  induced  me  to  examine  the  subject  of 
vegetable  growth  in  its  natural  conditions.     I  soon  discovered 
that  where  vegetation  was  most  luxuriant,  and    exuberant, 
there  the  brilliant  sunlight  was  always  associated  with  the  blue 
light  of  the  firmament.     That  during  the  torpor  of  winter,  the 
rays  of  sunlight  fell  upon  the  earth,  owing  to  the  declination 
of  the  sim,  at  such  acute  angles  of  incidence,  that  many  of 
them  were  reflected  into  space  without  stimulating  life  on  this 
planet,  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  blue  colour  of  the  sky  was 
intercepted  from  our  vision  by  the  watery  vapours  and  clouds 
that  were  constantly  floating  in  the  atmosphere.     The  absence, 
therefore,  of  the  blue  colour  of  the  sky,  and  many  of  the  rays 
of  sunlight  at  this  season,  together  with  its  low  temperature, 
convinced  me  that  the  Creator  intended  it  to  be  a  season  of 
rest  for  vegetable  and  animal  life,  a  sort  of  Sabbath,  in  which 
life,  though  existing  in  plants  and  animals,  was  reposing  from 
tivity,  to  be  aroused  into  exercise  on  the  return  of  the 
season  of  spring,  when  from  the  less  declination  of  the  sun, 
more  of  its  light  would  be  thrown  upon  the  earth,  associ. 
with  the  blue  colour  of  the  sky,  then  unmasked  by  the  dis- 
sipation of  the  clouds  and  watery  vapours  which  had  con- 
cealed it  during  the  winter  just  past.     I  said  to  myself,  "  here 
is  the  secret  of  the  failures  of  these  European  experiments 
with  the  primary  rays  of  light.     I  will  follow  the  guidance  of 
the  Creator  in  cultivating  my  vines.     I  will  associate  the  sun- 
light with  the  blue  colour  of  the  sky,  intensifying  the  latter. 
I  will  make  a  tropical  climate  and  atmosphere  in  the  temper- 
ate zone,"     The  results  are  before  you.     The   reflections   i 
have  made  on  this  subject  have  induced  my  investigation  into 
the  Physics  of  Nature.     I  have  not  been  satisfied  with  what  I 
have  been  taught  in  the  schools.     Their  explanations  are  not 
consistent  with  the  known  or  presumed  facts.      1  have  ven- 
tured, therefore,  to  form  my  own  conclusions,  irrespective  of 
dogmas  that  have  been  thrust  upon  mankind  for  centuries. 
I  do   not  profe>s  to  teach  any  one,   but   as  a  human  atom 
among  the  masses  of  mankind,  for  whom  all  knowledge  should 
be  disseminated,  I  venture  to  impart  to  the  public  the  conclu- 
sions to  which  I  have  arrived  on  these  subjects,  and  that  pub- 
lic may  attach  to  them  whatever  value  they  please. 


APPENDIX  TO  PAETH. 


P-] 

A  very  remarkable  confirmation  of  my  theory  of  the  forma- 
tion of  the  equatorial  diameter  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  of  those 
of  the  other  planets,  by  magnetic  attraction  and  repulsion  from 
their  respective  poles,  thus  increasing  those  diameters  in 
various  proportions  over  their  several  polar  diameters,  has 
unexpectedly  appeared  in  a  paper  read  before  the  American 
Academy  of  Sciences,  at  their  meeting  in  this  city  held  on 
Thursday  last,  November  4th,  1875,  and  sent  to  it  by  Professor 
Joseph  Le  Conte,  of  the  University  of  California,  a  synopsis 
of  which  was  published  in  the  supplement  to  the  Public  Ledger , 
of  this  city,  on  Saturday,  November  6th,  1875.  The  paper  was 
entitled  "  On  the  Evidence  of  Horizontal  Crushing  in  the 
Formation  of  the  Coast  Range  of  Mountains  in  California," 
being  the  result  of  recent  observations  by  the  author.  His 
theory  is,  that  mountains  are  formed  wholly  by  a  yielding  of 
the  crust  of  the  earth  along  certain  lines  to  horizontal  pres- 
sure, not  by  bending  into  a  convex  arch  filled  and  sustained 
by  a  liquid  beneath,  but  by  a  mashing  together  of  the  whole 
crust  with  the  formation  of  close  folds  and  a  thickening  or 
swelling  upward  of  the  squeezed  mass.  The  author  walked 
slowly  through  the  cut  made  by  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad, 
from  the  plains  adjoining  the  bay  of  San  Francisco  through 
the  Coast  Ridge  mountains  to  the  San  Joaquin  plains,  a  dis- 
tance of  thirty  miles.  Both  the  sub-ranges  into  which  the 
range  is  divided  are  composed  wholly  of  crumpled  strata, 
those  of  the  western  sub-range  being  crumpled  in  the  most 
extraordinary  manner.  The  sub-range  nearest  the  bay  is  ex- 
ceedingly complex.  From  measurements  of  the  angles  of  dip 
the  actual  length  of  the  folded  strata  is  two  and  one-half 
to  three  times  the  horizontal  distance  through  the  mountain. 
There  must  have  been  fifteen  to  eighteen  miles  of  original  sea 
bottom  crushed  into  six  miles,  with  a  corresponding  upswell- 
ing  of  the  whole  mass. 

183) 


184 


PL] 

To  anticipate  inquiry  and  satisfy  curiosity  respecting  the 
history  of  the  author  of  the  experiments  mentioned  herein, 
and  of  the  book  itself,  his  civil  and  military  history  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz  : 

AUGUSTUS  JAMES  PLEASONTOST,  horn  in  the  city  of 
"Washington,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  January  21st,  A.  D. 
1808.  He  was  the  second  son  of  Stephen  Pleasonton,  of  the 
state  of  Delaware,  and  Mary  Hopkins,  his  wife,  of  the  county 
of  Lancaster,  state  of  Pennsylvania.  His  father,  Stephen 
Pleasonton,  entered  the  service  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  State  Department,  in  the  year  1800,  and 
continued  to  serve  it  till  his  death,  which  occured  in  the  year 
1854,  after  a  service  of  more  than  fifty  years.  He  was  Fifth 
Auditor  of  the  Treasury  Department,  Acting  Commissioner 
of  the  Revenue  of  the  United  States,  and  Chief  of  the  Light 
House  Department,  for  many  years.  He  was  of  Norman  ex- 
traction. 

His  wife  was  the  third  daughter  of  John  Hopkins,  a  sub- 
stantial farmer  of  the  county  of  Lancester,  in  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  for  very  many  years  represented  his  county 
in  the  Senate  of  Pennsylvania.  Her  ancestry  was  English. 
Their  son,  Augustus,  was  appointed  a  Cadet  of  the  United 
States  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  from  the  District  of 
Columbia,  July  1st,  A.  D.  1822,  continued  as  such  till  July  1st, 
1826,  when  he  was  graduated  and  promoted  in  the  army,  to 
Brevet  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  Sixth  Regment  of  Infantry 
July  1st,  1826,  Second  Lieutenant  Third  Artillery  June  1st, 
1826.  Transferred  to  First  Artillery  October  24th,  1826. 

Augustus  James  Pleasonton  served  in  garrison  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  Virginia,  at  the  Artillery  School  of  Practice  in  the 
years  1826  and  1827,  and  on  Topographical  duty,  from  June 
16th,  1827,  till  January  17th,  1828,  and  from  June  14th,  1828 
till  June  30th,  1830.  Resigned  his  commission  in  the  army 
June  30th,  1830. 

His  CIVIL  HISTORY. — Counsellor  at  Law  at  Philadelphia, 
Penn.,  since  the  year  1832.  Brigade  Major  in  Pennsylvania 
Volume. -r  Militia  in  the  years  1833  and  1835,  Colonel  of 
Volunteer  Artillery,  of  Penn.,  from  1835  till  1845,  being 
severely  wounded  July  7th,  1844,  with  a  musket  ball  in  the 
left  groin,  while  commanding  his  regiment  in  a  desperate  con- 


185 

flict,  with  a  formidable  body  of  rioters,  armed  with  muskets 
and  cannon,  in  Southwark,  Philadelphia  county,  Penn.  As- 
sistant Adjutant  General  and  Paymaster  General  of  the  state 
of  Pennsylvania  from  December  llth,  1838  to  October  llth, 
1839,  during  political  disturbances  at  Harrisburg,  Penn. 
President  of  the  Harrisburg,  Portsmouth,  Mountjoy  and 
Lancaster  Railroad  Company,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  years 
1839  and  1840. 

His  MILITARY  HISTORY. — Served  during  the  Rebellion  of 
the  seceding  states  from  the  year  1861  till  1866  as  Brigadier 
General  of  Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Militia.  Appointed  May 
16th,  1861,  under  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  state  ot 
Pennsylvania,  to  organize  and  command  a  Volunteer  Army 
Corps  of  10,000  men  of  Artillery,  Infantry  and  Cavalry,  as  a 
Home  Guard  for  the  defence  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
Penn. 


University  of  California 

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SEL/CHEMiSTRY 


Bio- 
Plea 


A  000  660  1       es  , 

1  80w   i  u  y*+  • 

The  influence  of  the  blue 

ray  of  the  sunlight  and  of 


